Empty Skies
by Dalxein
Summary: During a carefully planned prank, Naruto finds himself shoved into the Seireitei, and subsequently Karakura Town. There he finds a life of happiness and peace that he'd previously thought impossible... -Naruto X Bleach- -NaruHarem-
1. A Hero's Funeral

My 'start of the fic' Authors Notes are often quite long. If you want to skip through it, do so at your own risk. You'll miss out on a lot if you do. (And I'll still carry out the threats of anti-flaming even if you don't read it) If you haven't read both Naruto AND Bleach, you'll be lost right from the start. I'd advise reading both. They're damn good.

First off, as a whole, this is the darkest fic I've ever written. Period… It might not _start out_ all that dark, but trust me when I say it get a _shitload_ darker later on. And yes, this is a Naruto/Bleach crossover. The original premise? I wanted to write a Naruto/Bleach crossover in which Naruto doesn't die and go to Soul Society to become a Shinigami… ohhh no, this fic takes a whole different turn to how it starts up. And for only giving serious thought to the idea of it for about a week, I'm damn proud of what I've managed to mesh together.

I don't own Naruto or Bleach, and I actually USE the spell-check button before I even send it to my Beta(s) (I have two, but I'm not sure right now if both are interested in going over every chapter of this fic, I know at least one will, though) So I know the grammar is decent too. I'd also like everyone to know that I take full liberty of the 'Delete Anonymous Review' function. If you don't have the balls to leave something that can be traced back to you, you don't deserve to tell me what I did wrong in _MY _fic.

Constructive criticism is welcome. Telling me when I accidentally put 'Temari' instead of 'Tayuya' or get minor details wrong is appreciated. I like correcting my mistakes _when I make them._ A three page essay on why I'm retarded for putting 'There' instead of 'Their'? I'd just slap that up on the forums for people to laugh at you for wasting your precious time on me for something _sooooo _bad.

Seriously, I will. Idiotic flames go up on the forums.

I have a bad habit of capitalizing random words in a sentence that shouldn't be capitalized, especially important words, like chakra, reishi, reiatsu, zanpakuto… these things may be capitalized, even though they don't need to be. It's a force of habit. Please ignore it.

If none of you mind, I'm going to jump straight into the action, and explain everything on the fly or with flashbacks. Just so you know, you shouldn't expect many flashbacks… I'm hoping to just explain it satisfactorily with my basic explanation of what's going on. If not, I suppose I can do the flashback…

I apologize if anything seems rushed, but I just hate waiting to get to the good stuff…

_ANYWAY,_ let's get on with the fic, now, shall we?

"Talking" '_Thinking'_ **"Kyuubi" **"I ain't tellin' yet" (Insert the most obnoxious smiley-face you can think of here)

**EDIT: **(added in between chapters three and four)

Okay, I figured I should just come out and say it. I am _TIRED_ of people reviewing the first chapter talking about a subject that is DEALT WITH in a later chapter. Namely, Reiatsu vs Reishi.

You all say it's 'Reiatsu' and I have to say, when I read it, with the way it's said in most of those reviews and PMs, it always seems so condescending. Like you're just correcting some child on some error that _everyone_ should know. Frankly?

_I don't give a fuck._

Even _IF_ it really is just all Reiatsu, I site my rights as a creative writer to change it. In my fic, my bullshit is how it works. I apologize if I offended anyone with that.

**END EDIT**

* * *

Approximately one eighth of Konohagakure was seated in the open field that made up training ground three, where the Memorial Stone was located. They were here for a funeral. Not four weeks ago, they held the Toad Sannin's funeral in this exact spot, which had inevitably increased the size of the clearing tenfold to accommodate all of the late sage's old friends and acquaintances. Now they were here for another funeral… the funeral of Uzumaki Naruto.

The thing was, though… Naruto wasn't dead.

The boy had inherited everything the Toad Sannin owned upon his death, as was the old man's decree in his will. Who better to leave your shit to than your godson? The son of the only man you could ever consider your own son? This of course included all of Jiraiya's notes taken during his 'research'… and his blackmail material. Naruto had used a good portion of the material on Tsunade to 'persuade' her to go along with this plot. It was simple really, in design and execution…

The boy just wanted to see if anyone would cry if he died.

In truth, it wasn't even the only 'Memorial Stone' in Konoha… the original stone stood atop the Hokage Monument, along with the next three stones, including one stone dedicated entirely to those lost during the Kyuubi massacre. This was simply the _current_ memorial stone. There were two others in the town proper, in training fields ten and thirteen. These were made during the wars. The total death toll from a shinobi village per year was simply too great for any one stone to hold for all the village's years. The only reason the third 'war stone' wasn't full was because it was during the time when it was being carved that the Yondaime had completed his legendary jutsu, the Hiraishin. Of course, they had to stick the Kyuubi Attack Memorial Stone atop the Yondaime's head… Naruto had stopped going there to think after he'd found out about the Kyuubi being sealed inside him. It didn't feel right. And over the course of figuring out that his father was the Yondaime himself, Naruto began to slowly lose himself to his hatred of the man. On several occasions, it took all of Naruto's willpower not to destroy the stone face that always stared down at him as if judging him, deeming him unworthy to even be called his son.

Naruto hated that man. And he had every right to.

Naruto's plan was, in essence, a simple one. Supposedly die on a solo mission, put himself into a near-death state in which he would retain consciousness, and have a Genjutsu master 'engrave' his name into the stone, which would essentially mean placing a complex Genjutsu over it making it look like it'd been carved into the stone without actually defacing it with the name of a shinobi that hadn't actually been killed in action.

The only three who knew Naruto was alive were Naruto himself, Tsunade, who had placed him into his medical coma, and Yuuhi Kurenai, who was enlisted to place the Genjutsu over the stone. The fact that she was pregnant with her dead lover's child didn't dampen her skills by any noticeable margin. After all, she still didn't even look pregnant, although this in itself might've been an elaborate Genjutsu…

But there was one part of the plan that needed a special touch… one that no human could manage…

_The previous day-_

_Naruto stood before the Kyuubi's cage, glaring up at the fox with his arms crossed over his chest. "Fox, I need you to do something for me."_

_The massive fox glared down at him. __**"You honestly expect me to obey you, a pathetic excuse for a gnat? I will do nothing for you."**__He growled._

_Naruto smirked. "You know that I've just finished going through everything Ero-Sennin had on the seal, and I know a particularly nasty way to tweak it that would, by destroying my soul, cause yours to collapse in on itself, killing the both of us." The fox's glare intensified a hundredfold. "You've seen my life, you know I'd do it, if just to take you with me. So, what'll it be?"_

_The Kyuubi growled, the sound reverberating throughout the entire sewer of Naruto's mind. __**"What is it you want?"**_

_Naruto's smirk intensified. "I know that even if I 'die' people will still be able to sense my chakra, so I want you to change it into something else. I know you can do it, the notes even said that the seal was made up of energies they'd never seen before."_

"_**Idiot human, there are reasons why we do not use those energies!" **__The Kyuubi snapped._

_Naruto's smile only widened. "I. Don't. Care." He said whimsically before glaring at the fox. "Just DO IT."_

_The fox grumbled for a few moments before nodding. __**"The consequences will be on YOUR head, brat… not mine."**__ It infuriated him to no end that the blonde gnat only kept smiling._

And so, here Naruto lay, in a casket set before the memorial stone, what energy he had was only detectable in minute amounts, and even then, everyone there simply figured he hadn't finished venting off his chakra yet, since he'd had so much of it. He'd supposedly died only the night before, after all. Naruto would've smirked if he could move any part of his body. The plan was going perfectly. He didn't bother listening to Tsunade's eulogy for him, after all, he'd helped her write it. He knew everything she was going to say…

It took just over an hour for Tsunade to finish her speech, teary-eyed and sorrowful… the woman could've been an actress if she'd wanted. Once the Godaime was done, Kurenai added Naruto's name to the stone, making sure to look as if she was actually chiseling it in as she placed the Genjutsu.

As she passed him, she glared down at him. She knew what this would do to Hinata… it'd break the poor girl. But she couldn't stay long, she needed to be by her student's side. Hinata needed her right now. The girl was already distraught by the time Kurenai approached her seat, more like she'd lost her lover than a crush… but Kurenai knew that was closer to what the boy was to her, even if it was a one-sided affair. Kurenai had managed to make sure Hinata was the first to speak after Tsunade, though…

Once the dark-blue-haired girl made it up to the casket, with Kurenai's hands over her shoulders, her tears began to flow more furiously, creating a veritable stream down her cheeks. "N-n-na-n-n…" She started, trying to center herself and form his name. He wouldn't want her to be weak. She needed to be strong. She needed to say what she'd been trying to say for so many years… "N-n-na-n-Naruto-k-kun… I… I l-lo…"

Before she could finish, an explosion rocked the clearing as a massive beast began descending on her… only for a blade to block its claw. "Please leave… You are in danger here."

When she looked up, she saw the arc of the blade descend down beside her, towards the hilt, which rested in the hands of a small boy with snow white hair… who looked an odd mix of bored and enraged. He was cloaked in white over black robes. She couldn't take in any more of his features before Kurenai pulled her away, and the boy flung the massive paw upward, only to slash through it… and straight through the white mask that made up its face.

"Get out of here! You'll just be killed!" A busty blonde in similar black robes shouted as she engaged another beast. They were swarming over the field, countless shinobi had risen up to combat them, and many were succeeding, but just as many were falling back to protect the civilians in the crowd. Many more of these sword-wielding people in black were also fighting the masked monsters… Right now Kurenai just wanted to find a place for her and her surrogate daughter to hide.

--

Naruto was furious. There was a _battle_ going on during his funeral! Call him selfish or egotistical if you want, but this was _his_ show, dammit! After these feelings began to pass, they were met with more rage at the fact that he was still paralyzed. After all, he hadn't wanted to accidentally twitch a finger and alert anyone to the fact that he was still alive… and now he was regretting it.

As the battle raged, the blonde's ire grew exponentially. He should be in the spotlight. He should be fighting. He should be _happy_…

"_Take the sword…_"

If Naruto's eyes could widen, they would've… He Immediately shouted into his head, demanding the fox to explain himself, only for him to deny having said anything… and the voice was different, too… This one was softer, and lighter, but it had a tightness to it… like it was holding back.

"_Take the sword._" It repeated. Naruto mentally yelled at it, asking it what it meant, since he couldn't move.

"_Take the sword!_"

'_What sword!?_'

"_TAKE THE FUCKING SWORD!!_"

And so Naruto used all his strength, and reached out… he took the sword.

--

Matsumoto Rangiku was having a bad day… why? Because she and half of the Tenth Division had been torn away from their posts and shoved into this place, to fight Hollows. And not just _any_ hollows. Including the one she was fighting now, there were half a dozen Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, as well as a dozen Gillian Menos. It was _insane_. Countless weaker hollows were also scattered around Konoha looking for prey, most notable being the blonde in the casket giving off enough Reiatsu to blanket the entire village. In truth, they probably couldn't even tell which humans were giving off any at all…

She'd only taken her eyes off the opponent for a split second, but any veteran knows such a thing could be fatal… she'd been getting rusty. She saw the incoming blow, and braced to reduce the damage, but it never came. Instead, she looked on in confusion as a blonde boy in his white burial yukata stood atop the hollow's severed waist while its torso rose into the air, a massive blade as big as him in one hand. He'd paused just long enough for her to catch his bright blue eyes and the whisker marks on his cheek before vanishing. As the Adjuchas faded away in front of her, she caught a Gillian splitting in two vertically in her peripheral vision, but its slayer was gone by the time she turned her head, off to his next target.

She sped off to meet her captain, who was engaging another Menos. Just as she arrived, it had its arm cut off and was split down the middle by the same blonde. Then there was a flash of sparks as two blades clashed. The blonde's own platinum Zanbatou meeting the chipped and battle-worn blade of a giant…

"Move…" The blonde growled. It took every bit of his focus to keep himself from lashing out at anything that moved thanks to the pain caused by forcing every action through his body's paralysis. In truth, he'd been pumping so much energy into his limbs that he was running on empty by then, even half a minute after he'd entered the fight. This only damaged his body further, causing more pain. Naruto was no stranger to pain, but this was unreal… his own body tearing itself apart.

"No." The giant replied, the bells attached to his long spiked hair jingling as he tilted his head in interest, and gave a malicious smile. "You're strong…"

The fact that the blonde had the giant captain at a stalemate was not lost on their observers. "Stop this now!" Hitsugaya, the white-haired teen, roared. "We need to get him back to Soul Society, _now_!"

Matsumoto quickly opened up a Senkaimon with her Zanpakuto, the rice-paper doors sliding open ominously. "Yachiru-chan?" The small pink-haired girl popped up from behind the massive Kenpachi's shoulder at Matsumoto's call. "Would you please escort the boy?"

The girl leapt from her perch, dragging the blonde behind her through the doorway. "C'mon spiky, I've gotta' keep you safe so Ken-chan can fight you later!" She cheered happily.

As soon as doors closed and the blonde was gone, several of the hollows faded and disappeared, their prey gone… but most of them remained, and would need to be dealt with.

--

The pair sped down the street, the pink-haired girl pulling the irate and growling blonde behind her, explaining the situation as they went. Passersby could liken it to a small child pulling a rabid tiger by a leash… until the blonde collapsed, and wound up dragged by his hand for several blocks before the girl realized he'd fallen.

When Naruto woke, his eyes locked onto the person leaning over him. A woman with kind eyes who had her hair braided down in front of her robes. It took the blonde a moment to notice it, but she had a motherly way about her, but hidden deep down was a harder heart… a colder form than what was shown. She reminded him of a kunoichi… Needless to say, he was instantly fond of the woman.

When she saw he was awake, she smiled down at him. "My name is Unohana Retsu, Captain of the Fourth Division. You are in our division's medical wing… you didn't have any major injuries, just a severe case of exhaustion, but you were still unconscious for nearly twenty hours."

Naruto blinked. "Twenty hours? For being tired?" He sighed, shaking his head. That was unheard of for him.

"It's nothing to be worried about, I was just checking up on you, since the other injured have all stabilized. This is actually the first time anyone's set foot in your room in fifteen hours, after the wounded started coming in…" She explained. Her smile never faltered. He admired that.

"Makes sense…" Naruto muttered. He woke up when he sensed someone nearby. It did make sense… and she was quiet. Almost too quiet, in fact. She wasn't a Captain for nothing, it seemed. "So, this is heaven, huh? Never thought I'd end up here…" He said with a morbid chuckle.

"If you feel up to it… there are a few people here to see you." She said, he smile lessening a bit.

"Sure!" He said, far too cheerfully, as he flipped out from under the covers of his bed, skill garbed in the white yukata, and hopped onto the floor. "Where to? And where's my sword?"

She sighed before motioning for someone to come forward. Naruto hadn't been paying attention before, but a tall, blue-grey haired young woman came forward, carrying his sword. "This is my vice-captain, Koutetsu Isane. She'll show you to where they are. If you'll excuse me, I need to continue my rounds, now."

Naruto nodded as he took his sword. He hadn't had a chance to really look at it until now, but the hilt was a deep, dark blue, and the blade itself looked to be white silver, with a light blue tinge to it… a platinum sword. The blade itself looked oddly stylized, as the sharpened edge of the blade met the body of the blade in a crescent wave-like pattern, and the larger portion of the blade looked as if a calligrapher's scroll, ruined by water, rendering the large kanji characters illegible. One of the most peculiar things however was the guard… a single thin line of metal parting from each side curving inward in a spiral pattern. The woman looked as if she was having difficulty lifting it, but it didn't feel any heavier than a normal katana to him. After he'd placed it on his back and left it there, a feat which seemed to amaze her, he nodded and gestured towards the door the Captain had left through.

Several corridors later, the pair had come upon a waiting room. There were three people waiting in this room, each wearing the same black robes as everyone else, of which Naruto recognized only one… the Sandaime Hokage. Naruto watched as a red-haired woman's eyes widened, and she motioned for the last occupant to turn. A man with spiked blonde hair…

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the man. Even as he turned, Naruto knew exactly who it was. His father, the Yondaime Hokage…

"N-Naruto…" The man whispered, reaching out slowly, and taking a step forward.

"Don't call me that." Naruto growled, taking a step back. His eyes were darkened and narrowed dangerously.

"It's the name we gave you…" The elder blonde muttered sadly, taking his hand back.

Naruto's eyes flared red. "I don't want _anything _you've given me, bastard!" The three watched as silvery-blue Reiatsu flowed out from the boy, showing just how angry he was, if the killing intent wasn't enough to discern it. Then his whisker marks began to deepen, his fingernails lengthened and sharpened into claws, and his bared teeth turned to fangs… and he vanished in a burst of yellow light.

The Yondaime's eyes widened as he saw his son vanish with his own most powerful technique. He had enough time to mutter the first two syllables of its name before he felt a sharp pain in his torso, and glanced down to see the tip of his own Zanpakuto sticking out from the folds of his Shihakusho.

Naruto leaned forward, reaching into the man's robes to retrieve the Hiraishin kunai that Naruto knew would be somewhere on his father's person. As he did so, he whispered into the elder blonde's ear. "Uzumaki Naruto… is _dead_."

Then Naruto let his father fall to the floor, his own zanpakuto through his stomach. "Naruto-kun… why!?" The woman yelled, clutching herself while Sarutobi tended to the fallen Namikaze.

"I have no father…" Naruto answered, glaring down at the blonde man. Then, turning his glacial gaze upon the woman, he added; "…or mother."

The blonde boy dashed away, leaving the wounded Minato and crying Kushina where they were as Sarutobi called for aid.

--

By the time Naruto made his way out of the veritable maze that was the Fourth Division hospital wing, he already had pursuers chasing after him, alerting those ahead of him to his status as a rogue element, leading them to lash out at him as well. The blonde felt no pain, however… no matter how much he bled. Naruto was running as fast as he could, trying to find any sign of where he was… and then he saw it. The large platforms with gates on them… the same gates he entered this weird place through. If he could get through there…

"Hey, what are you doing!?" One of the guards shouted as the blonde pulled his sword from its sheath.

"Saying goodbye…" The blonde muttered to himself as he flung the blade as hard as he could, pumping as much cha… reishi into it as possible. It didn't have the same effect as chakra, but it would have to do.

The zanpakuto plunged into the side of the Senkaimon gate, sending a crack through the archway. Naruto then took his own Zanpakuto, and as he dashed through the portal, slashed the other side of the arch… the resulting explosion sending stone shards from the archway into his back, propelling him through the other side. As soon as he landed, Naruto began to sprint as fast as he could… as far as he could.

It'd felt like days he'd been running, even though he knew it couldn't have been more than one… maybe it was the blood loss? Oh yeah, he probably had a dozen bits of rock lodged in every limb, not to mention how many must've been in his back. It was night when he'd started running, and it was night again now… at least twenty hours. After that, he simply crumpled in on himself mid-leap between buildings. He knew he was falling, but he didn't have the energy to land safely, even if he'd completed his jump.

He hit the ground… and kept rolling, until he struck a wall. "Oh my god, are you okay!?" Naruto could tell the voice was feminine, young… a young woman. He could feel her lifting him up to his feet, before he stumbled away from her, and took up a fighting stance. "Wh-what are you doing? You need to get to a hospital, now!" She yelled. She was wearing loose clothing, cargo pants and a T-shirt, with odd lettering on it. Her hair was black and spiky, her grey eyes filled with worry.

Naruto fell to his knees. "No… hospitals…" He huffed out before falling to the ground again.

She rushed over, slinging one of his arms over her shoulders and pulling him up. "I'm taking you to the hospital…"

The air grew thick, and her breathing thinned. "No… Hospital…" He growled.

"Okay… no hospital…" She choked out, barely able to stand. As soon as the words left her throat, the air returned to normal, and she turned around. "If that's that, there's only one place to go…"

--

Ichigo was having a nice day, until he heard the door being pounded upon in the middle of the night. He was just about to go to bed, when he'd gotten up to open the door. Imagine his surprise when he found Tatsuki answering it with a bloody blonde dragging behind her.

"Dad? DAD GET DOWN HERE!" Ichigo yelled. "Yuzu! Karin! C'mon!" The orange-headed teen helped his childhood friend pull the blonde into the clinic. By the time they'd gotten him in and closed the door, Ichigo's father and sisters had arrived, and began their work pulling him onto a bed. Isshin had one hell of a time pulling the sword from his back, even though nothing seemed to be holding it there. Once it was removed however, and the extent of the damage could be seen, he shook his head.

"This boy needs to go to the hospital…" As he was turning to reach for the phone, in order to call for an ambulance, the air thickened with a tangible malignance.

"No… hospital…" The blonde moaned.

"O-okay, no hospital…" Isshin muttered. And the air became clear again. "Okay, if we're not taking this to a hospital, we'll need to prep for surgery here. We need to get that debris out of his wounds _now_!"

"Hey, sir! Stay awake!" Yuzu yelled, trying to keep the blonde alive. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Uzu…" The blonde started, and groaned. He'd renounced his name… what to call himself now? After such a long moment that the three working on his wounds thought he'd fallen asleep, he answered. "Kazama… Arashi…"

While Ichigo and Tatsuki watched from a distance, another set of eyes peered down from the stairway. These eyes shifted down to a small handheld device, reading off the new message. '_A dangerous ryouka escaped from Soul Society… Uzumaki Naruto… kill on sight._'

She had her orders…

* * *

This conversation actually took place. I asked my Beta who should come and 'rescue' Naruto. He replied. "Hitsu-_fucking_-gaya, that's who!" And so, Hitsugaya, the demi-bishi prince of all that is awesome, saves Naruto.

And yes, all of Naruto's (and Kyuubi's) chakra was turned into Reishi… or whatever raw spirit-power is called. How? Fucked if I know… if anything ever doesn't make sense, just do what I do- blame Kyuubi.

I have _ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA_ how a Zanpakuto is formed. I'm just winging it, since this is MY fic, and I can spout whatever BS I want because of it.

This is a Harem fic. I've already picked out three girls, but the rest will be up to people voting in the poll I'll stick up in my profile right before I post this fic. The girls I've already decided are going to be in are Rukia, Tatsuki, and Hinata. Just so there's no confusion, I'll say it here. Rukia is probably the _OLDEST _girl I'm going to pair with Naruto. (Hell, she's probably older than Tsunade) Meaning most of the Bleach girls are out already.

No, Naruto isn't dead. Ugh. Some people just can't understand a figure of speech, so I'm spelling it out here for you. He was talking metaphorically. I'm still probably going to have to put a note in the next chapter about it too…

I always try and shoot for at least 4,000 words per chapter in any fanfiction chapter.

Remember, poll in my profile regarding secondary pairings for Naruto. (Primaries are Rukia, Tatsuki and Hinata)


	2. Broken Resolve

ANY VOTES DONE IN REVIEW FORM WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

Just wanted to get that out now. From here on, I'll cut the girl with the fewest votes out of the poll every chapter until a few chapters from now, when the pairings would start. (This should leave three girls at the end, for a total of a six-girl harem) Then again, I might just take the highest two at the end… I dunno.

And for those who wonder, I use 'Reishi' because I don't know what Reiatsu is called inside the body. 'Reiatsu' means 'spirit pressure' which is all well and good, but it has nothing to do with how truly powerful you are, because Reiatsu can be suppressed. (All captains have enough Reiatsu to kill non-Shinigami spirits just by being in their presence. They don't however, because they hold it back) So, like I said, Reishi is spirit power (inside the body) and Reiatsu is spirit pressure (outside the body).

I apologize if that got confusing.

As for why Naruto renounced the name 'Naruto' when it was essentially Jiraiya that gave it to him? Well, Naruto doesn't really _KNOW_ that, now does he? Him hating his mother will also be explained in a few chapters.

I've also had some people say my description for Naruto's Zanpakuto was a little hard to understand, so I'm going to simplify it for you. (This is not to be taken as a replacement for the actual description. This 'shortened' description leaves stuff out, but it gives you a good idea of what it looks like)

I'm sure _everyone_ reading this has heard of Cloud (from Final Fantasy VII) and his famous Buster Sword. Think of it sort of like that, but blue-ish, and with some blurry writing scratched into the sides of it. Again, this is _not_ a very _good _description, but it gives you a _general _idea of its look.

* * *

Naruto woke when a presence entered the room. He never made any motion that he was awake, but the person kept coming, creeping along the floor… "You know… you make one shitty assassin."

Rukia froze. "H-how did you…?"

Naruto glanced over, and noticed the scalpel in her hands. She was probably going to stab him in the neck with it… "I've had assassins after me for as long as I can remember."

She tried to compose herself. "How far back can you remember, then?"

"I was gutted on my second birthday." He muttered, giving her a half-hearted glare. "Photographic memory." When she didn't react, he sighed. "Aren't you going to 'finish off the demon brat'?"

She gave him a confused glance. "Demon brat?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Fox boy? Demon? Hellspawn? Murderer?" She shook her head at all but the last one. Her eyes widened instead. "I've never killed anyone I wasn't paid to. It's what I do. I'm an assassin, myself." She started backing away. "I only take missions I find ethical, y'know… kill the tyrannical dictator, or the drug smuggler, or the crime boss… I leave the other 'killer' missions to the rest of my village." She took another step back. "Please stop. Do you want to know why I haven't killed you yet? I assure you, I'm quite capable of doing so…"

She stopped. "Y-yes, why not?"

"Two reasons." Naruto answered. "The first, I knew you weren't trained… so there had to be some reason for you to want to kill me, and second… your eyes."

"My… eyes?" She asked. And her mind froze when his eyes met hers. They were so… cold.

"They remind me of mine." He said, adding a slight smile to his lips. "Please, sit… I think we've got a lot to talk about, like who are you, and where am I?"

She complied, sitting down in the middle of the floor. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia… and you are currently in the Kurosaki family's medical clinic." She paused. "If you don't mind me asking, what…"

"What's keeping you from just killing me, right?" He held up his right hand, which had previously been hidden behind his body. Within his grasp was a spiraling sphere of light blue energy. "Well, first off, I could ram this into your chest and scramble your insides…" He chuckled when she audibly gulped. But her eyes widened when he let the sphere dissipate.

"W-what are you…" Rukia started, before the blonde enigma reached up and tore at the neck of his medical smock, ripping it from his chest, and leaving him only in sterile pants.

"If you're going to do it, do it right… the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, brain, several arteries… there are a lot of places where you could kill me if we were out in the field, but since we're not, and this is a medical clinic, best to just go with the instant-kill spots, ne? The heart and the brain."

"You can't be serious, what are you talking about?" Rukia asked, her fear leaking into her voice as she started backing away from the boy.

Naruto gave a morbid chuckle. "I thought it'd be obvious, I'm asking you to kill me." She gasped, and the scalpel in her hands clattered to the floor. "That's your mission, isn't it? I'm usually damn near immortal thanks to the bastard fox, but right now, I'm not healing as fast as I normally do… usually, I'd be fully healed by now with these injuries." She tried her best to move, either toward him to finish what she came here for, or to back away, but her body was frozen… he just sounded so… _sad_… "Three years ago, my best friend shoved his hand into my chest, and popped my lung like a balloon. I regrew another one before I ever needed air. So you can see why I'd have problems dying, ne? Listen, if you're not going to do it, then just hand that damn knife over and _I'll_ do it…" He held his hand out toward her. "_Please_…"

Rukia shook her head lightly, before the door slammed open. "So, who might _you_ be?"

"Rukia?" Ichigo asked from the doorway. When Rukia turned back to look, she saw him standing behind his father, who had an unidentifiable smile on his face.

"She's a friend." Naruto said, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm not sure if she's got a place to stay, though…"

Isshin blinked. "Oh, well… Ichigo, you know her?" He asked, turning back to his son.

"Y-yeah, she's from my class." He answered.

Rukia spun around on the ground and bowed to the man. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia, I'm a classmate of Ichigo's."

"Well, why haven't I met you before?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She's new around here." Naruto interjected. "If I'm right, she won't be staying too long, either…"

"So then she's a…"

"An exchange student!" Ichigo shouted abruptly. Neither Naruto nor Rukia knew what he was talking about, but both remained silent.

"Well then, she can stay here!" Isshin announced merrily. "And are you going to be joining them in their class, Arashi-kun?"

Naruto blinked for a moment before he remembered, that was his name now… "Ahh, perhaps… I'd have to find out who to talk to about it, though…" He chuckled.

"No worries, I'll make some calls." Isshin said with a shrug.

The blonde nodded. "So, what about the girl that brought me here?"

Ichigo stepped forward. "She's asleep in my room right now."

Naruto nodded again. "Ah, I see… so she's your girlfriend, huh?"

The orange-head replied by sputtering indignantly. "W-what? No!"

His father was smiling. "Aha, I was wondering about that! I've always wondered why my Ichigo never brought home any girls!"

Ichigo responded by crossing his arms in front of him and shaking his head. "She's just a friend! She was tired, so I let her have my bed, that's all!"

"Hn, that makes sense…" Naruto muttered.

Isshin leaned toward the blonde conspiratorially. "So, do _you_ have a girlfriend?"

Naruto's eerie monotone shattered the silence. "Everyone I love dies…" Everyone grew silent at this, saddened by his proclamation. Then Naruto smiled at them. "Kinda' makes it hard to find a girl, y'know?" He added cheerfully.

The older man nodded before turning away. "Well, I'll let you get some rest. Ichigo! Family meeting in the morning…"

"Yeah, okay dad…" Ichigo muttered, and after Isshin was gone, he turned back to Naruto. "So, how long have you known Rukia?"

The blonde smirked. "About five minutes…"

The orange-head blanched. "That's all!? I thought you said she was an old friend!"

"Heh, did I say that?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

"Tch, I'm gonna' go sleep. Rukia, we need to be ready for school in a few hours…" He said just as he left the room, turning back to shut the door.

"Okay, Ichigo." She replied, turning back to Naruto.

Once he'd heard the soft 'clack' of the door shutting, Naruto sighed. "So, where are you from?"

"Soul Society…" Rukia answered tentatively. "…You?"

"Konohagakure… in the Elemental Countries…" Naruto stated with a sneer.

Her eyes widened. "The Elemental… then that means… then it'd make sense why they'd send out an order to kill and Konso you!" She theorized verbally.

"Konso?" Naruto asked. "And how the hell do you know about where I'm from if this isn't even the same world! I've never even heard of half the things I've seen here…" The blonde narrowed his eyes at the girl as he hissed out the last part.

"Konso… soul burial. It's how we send human souls to Soul Society… but the Elemental Countries…" She paused, shaking her head. "That place is usually off-limits! Most of the people there can see Shinigami!"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

"Well, normal humans can't even see spirits here, but there are special bindings that keep them from seeing Shinigami and Hollows… those same bindings don't exist in your world, so the more concentrated the spirit energy in the body, the easier it is to see us there!" Rukia said, her voice brimming with anxiety.

The blonde blinked at her explaination… it made sense, but still… "How are there two different worlds with two different sets of rules?"

Rukia took several deep breaths to calm herself. "I learned all this in the history classes at the Shinigami Academy, but still, I'll try to sum it up. Basically, your world was originally a paradise for the purest of souls to be reborn into… an opposite to Hell, I suppose." Naruto scoffed, but she continued. "This worked out for a while, but then the souls started to become corrupt, and it began degrading into a second hell, of sorts…" Now _that_, Naruto could believe… "But, they couldn't change some things, like the people's own spiritual powers… I think you called it 'chukara' or something…"

"Chakra." Naruto corrected.

"Whatever… anyway, your world is… well, let's just way it's _farther away_ from Hueco Mundo… the Hollow world, than this one is… so even though it has more powerful souls, it's simply more difficult for them to get there, and when they do, we Shinigami have enough advance warning to send a party to intercept it and kill it before it's noticed…"

"Huh… I guess that's why there were so many there…" He mused to himself. When she glanced at him curiously, he shook his head and waved dismissively. "No, nothing… do you know anything about the Bijuu?"

She scrunched up her nose in thought… Naruto found she looked rather cute when contemplating something… "No, I've never heard of them… what are they?"

"Demons…" Naruto said offhandedly. She stood up and walked closer, before sitting on his bedside.

"I've never heard of people actually _seeing_ demons before, not even Shinigami… they're supposed to stay in Hell, right?" She asked, worry tainting her voice.

"Well, there's always only been nine of them… so I don't think any more are coming out… anyway, they might not be real demons… they kinda' remind me of these Hollows you're talking about…"

"_**And duly so, ningen…"**_ The Kyuubi grumbled from inside the blonde's head.

'_What do you mean, fox?' _Naruto asked.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" Rukia asked, oblivious to his other conversation.

Naruto tensed when he heard his name. "How the hell do you know my name!?" He roared. _'We'll talk in a second, fox…'_

She began pulling away, but couldn't when he caught her wrist. "I… th-that was the name given in the order!" She cried, and he sighed, slowly letting his grip lessen.

When she'd calmed down enough to sit next to him again, he spoke. "Please don't call me that…"

"Why not, it's your name, isn't it?" She asked tentatively.

The throaty growl Naruto let out frightened her, but she kept her seat next to him. "It's the name _HE_ gave me…" The blonde's voice rumbled as he spoke. "My bastard father… the treasured '_hero_' of our village… he made my life a living Hell…"

"H-how…?" She asked, inching closer.

"He figured out a way to… _borrow_ the powers of a Shinigami, what I thought was _THE_ Shinigami until recently, and tore the soul out of the strongest of the Bijuu…" Naruto curled up on himself slightly, trembling as if he were about to break into tears, but when he glanced up at her, all she saw were his blood red eyes. "…and seal it into his newborn son."

This time she did back away, nearly falling off the back of the bed as she scooted away from him. "H-how… why!?" She was silenced by his outstretched hand, palm forward in a silent command to 'stop'.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to ask that damnable fox himself…" Her eyes widened, but she said nothing as she watched him close his eyes and drop into meditation. _'So, fox-bastard, what the hell are you?'_

The mighty fox chuckled to himself from inside his cage. _**"I'm sure you'd love to figure it out yourself…"**_The deep rumbling earthquake of a growl that Naruto sent through his mind was enough to sway the fox. _**"Alright, okay! Damn ungrateful human gnats… You were correct in that we are **_**similar**_** to these 'Hollows', but we are not of their kind. You already know that we are immortal and almighty, but what you do not know, is the reason for this…" **_The fox paused for dramatic effect, something completely lost on the blonde at the moment. _**"Human souls."**_

Naruto's eye twitched. _'And how could human souls be responsible for your power?'_

"_**When a Hollow devours a spirit, it uses the energy to fuel itself. To sate its hunger, and put the energies it normally uses to feed itself to better use… we Bijuu devour the flesh for sustenance, and the soul for power. Your puny human kind assume that just because one has a number of tails, that they are stronger than those with fewer tails… while I AM the most powerful and magnificent of all Bijuu, it is because I have devoured the souls of countless humans, adding the power of each and every one to my own." **_The fox had himself a little chuckle at stroking his own ego.

'_Then why haven't the Shinigami killed you all yet?' _Naruto asked, becoming annoyed with the demon in his stomach.

"_**If they could, they would have by now…" **_The fox laughed. _**"NOTHING can kill us, even we know not of a way by which we can be unmade! I have tried countless times to destroy that loathsome tanuki… but every time I devour him or any of the others, they are simply reborn. Our tails may not denote our power, but they DO signify our base energies, how strong we are when newly reborn…"**_

Naruto gave off a thoughtful hum at this. _'And when one Bijuu devours another?'_

He could _feel _the smirk the fox had on before he spoke. "_**We absorb all of the souls that they themselves have devoured… my favorite way of gaining power now, you see… humans are just so pathetically weak that the power of thousands barely adds to my own… devouring them by the tens of thousands through the other Bijuu is much more… efficient."**_

'_You are a despicable bastard, you know this, yes?' _Naruto sighed.

"_**But of course, brat… in fact, one of the only Bijuu I myself have never devoured was the Sanbi, and that was only because its mind was pure instinct, and it ran whenever I got close…"**_

'_And what of the Akatsuki's plot? The… thing they're sealing all of the Bijuu into?'_

"_**It is doubtless powered by human souls, and not by us… otherwise it will likely explode, eradicating all life in your world when they activate it… unless it is meant to explode…" **_The fox chuckled. _**"Then it may detonate at any moment, even now…"**_

Naruto nodded, and opened his eyes. Rukia was still staring at him, patiently waiting for him to speak. "Yes, the Bijuu are all basically glorified Hollows." The blonde could hear the fox griping in the back of his mind, but paid it no heed.

"Naruto… what did you…"

"I _said_… ugh, never mind…" Naruto grumbled. "Just… never call me that in front of others, okay?"

She nodded. "What did you mean, when you said your father, and the sealing of this… 'fox'… made your life into a living hell?"

Blue eyes narrowed at the girl in front of them. "Are you certain you wish to know?"

Rukia nodded again. "Yes, Naruto…"

The blonde sighed. "Just don't blame me when the nightmares start… it all began fifteen years ago…"

Naruto spent the night retelling his life's story to Rukia… needless to say, she wasn't going to have a decent night's rest for quite some time…

--

Tsunade was pissed. No, more than that… she was beyond any form of rage she'd ever felt before, simply because there were so many things to be angry at right now…

"Ts-Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked, still weeping from the false funeral. "D-does this m-mean, N-Naruto-kun is alive?"

The Sannin nodded. "Yes, Hinata… he… _asked_ me to help him set it up. I don't know why."

Inside the Hokage's office were Tsunade at her desk, Shizune at her side, and the remaining ten of the Konoha dozen and their Jounin instructors, both Kakashi and Yamato for Sakura and Sai. Oddly enough, there was a busty blonde with a slight blush wearing black robes and a sword leaning against the wall. Her name was Matsumoto Rangiku, vice-captain of the Tenth Division… and they were all waiting for her captain to finish gathering the reports from all of the teams of Shinigami sent to the Elemental Countries. Not because he alone was assigned to do so, but because Matsumoto was shirking the responsibility off onto him, and neither of them expected Kenpachi to gather reports…

Of course, this might've had something to do with what had transpired only a short while ago…

_Everyone had been chattering incessantly until the Hokage had given a mighty shout to be silent. She'd already thrown the entire council out of her room, and she'd be damned if she couldn't do so to her shinobi as well if they kept giving her such a headache…_

_Everyone was silent and still… except for Matsumoto._

_Her head kept twitching and bobbing this way and that, following something unseen by the rest of them. "You know what?" She said suddenly. "I'm going to take care of this little problem you've got… there's a spirit that's been flitting around you since the moment I first set eyes on you, Tsunade…" Matsumoto unsheathed her blade. "And it's getting… annoying!" She shouted, thrusting the hilt forward suddenly. Though the spirit had tried to dodge, it pegged him squarely in the forehead._

_During the instant it was corporeal, shifting between a human spirit and Hell Butterfly, he reached out and deftly squeezed both of Matsumoto's breasts with a strong cry of "Worth it!" …before turning into a butterfly and fluttering away._

_When everything she'd just seen registered in her mind, Tsunade could only say one thing… "JI-RAI-YAAAA!!"_

Everyone in the village had heard the Hokage, and wondered why she'd angrily screamed the name of the month-dead Toad Hermit… but they were all smart enough to not ask.

The normalcy respondent with Hinata's speaking was lost again upon the arrival of the white-haired boy Matsumoto insisted was her superior officer. Everyone in the room knew better than to snicker at the boy, though. Each of the ninja knew he was at least as strong as them while he was fighting, and that he'd been holding back.

"This… is a grave matter, Hokage-sama." Hitsugaya stated morosely. "At this rate, there is no way to contain the information leak. Within a year, everyone in the elemental countries will know of Shinigami and Soul Society…"

Tsunade nodded. "While I know the situation is bad, you make it sound so much worse… what could possibly be that bad about the situation?"

Hitsugaya sighed. "Have you ever seen someone whose religion has been called into question before? There will be riots, there will be mobs… there will be wars. Soul Society wants no part in this."

"…Even though it's essentially your fault?" The Hokage admonished.

"We were following orders. I'm sure you can understand this." The ninja in the room could only nod solemnly.

Then a flurry of sand swept through the far side of the room, indicating the Kazekage had just appeared. "Is he alive?" He asked. Silence was his answer. "Is… he… alive?" He repeated darkly, stalking towards the Hokage's desk.

"Yes, Gaara. Naruto is alive." Tsunade answered.

He nodded, but his sister who'd appeared with him, sighed in relief. "That's good… isn't it great, Gaara?"

'Un' was her only answer, as he turned back to the white-haired captain. "We will search for him." When Hitsugaya tried to oppose this, Gaara leveled him with a dark glare.

Hitsugaya returned it unflinching. "He has been convicted of a crime, and must be brought back in for punishment. I see no reason for you not to aid in the search, but I'd have to clear it with my superiors first."

"What crime?" Tsunade asked.

"There is no reason to disclo-" His boyish form was wrapped in sand.

"What crime?" Gaara repeated darkly.

"Assault, and attempted murder." The white-haired young man said, glaring down at the Kazekage. "Matsumoto, the papers…"

She, in turn, reached into the folds of her robes (something that didn't go unnoticed by most men in the room) and pulled a folded sheet of paper from them. Unfolding it onto the desk, she turned them for the Hokage to read. "These are medical papers…" Tsunade mused. And then she saw the name. "The Yondaime was the target?" This caused everyone in the room to drop into silence instantly. "This doesn't seem too bad at all, but what's this? I've never heard of this before…"

"It's a part of the soul, specifically one that governs spiritual power." Matsumoto explained.

Tsunade nodded. "Due to injury, the subject will be…" Her eyes widened. "…removed from active duty indefinitely?"

--

Kushina sat beside her husband's bed. He looked quite a bit worse than he was, and she knew it, but it didn't make seeing him any easier.

"You haven't left his side since the incident, go, rest…" Sarutobi urged.

"Neither have you, old man…" She rebuked.

The old man chuckled. "And some people wonder where Naruto got his manners from…"

"But why would he…?" Minato asked, half-groaning the question.

"You know why he would do this. He sees you at fault for his life, since being the Hokage, you would surely know what his life would be like…" The old man said, sighing.

"I know… it's all my fault…"

"No, it is not…" The Sandaime urged.

"There were three other children who were born the same day, old man. Labor caused by the stress of the Kyuubi attack, just like Naruto. Did you know he was born half a month early?" The Yondaime asked with a sad chuckle. "And the first time I hold my son in my arms, I damn him to _that _life…"

"It wasn't your fault…" The old man said again.

"I'll accept that when _he_ does…" The bedridden man said darkly.

A knock came from the door. "Am I… interrupting something?" Isane, the second seat of the Fourth Division, asked.

"No, no… come in." Kushina said, eager to have the soothing company of another woman.

"Our tests are back…" Isane said, coming fully into the room. "Your husband… the wound inflicted on him wasn't severe, but it inadvertently destroyed his Soul Chain…"

"And this means?" Sarutobi asked.

"He will no longer be able to retain his rank. He's already been relieved of his position as thirteenth seat of the Twelfth Division. He'll never be a seated officer again… I doubt he has the ability to channel enough Reishi to even release his Zanpakuto… I'm sorry."

* * *

As am I… not really.

If you don't know this about me, I tend to leave the 'no Sato' off of village names because I think it sounds better without them.

Also, I've never understood how beings of higher density would be harder to see, (IE, Shinigami and Hollows rather than normal spirits) So I put something in for that.

What is Naruto's horrible past!? I'm planning on recapping a short version of it in a few chapters. Don't worry.

The 'Soul Chain' and 'Soul Sleeve' (I have no idea if that's really what they're called, but that's what it sounded like to me) apparently give a spirit the power to become a Shinigami. By destroying both, you eliminate any chance of that spirit becoming or regaining their spiritual power. I'm _ASSUMING_ that one is a power booster (increases the reishi one is capable of producing) and one is a power conduit (Allows someone to control reishi properly) And if either one is destroyed, the other will still be enough to stay a Shinigami, even if your overall power is cut by at least a factor of ten. Even if this is wrong, I don't care. I still say one should be enough, otherwise why destroy both? (Byakuya and Ishida both take measures to hit both when they target them)

Plus, if anyone can guess what the Kanji on Naruto's sword are, then good for you. (No prize. In fact, I'm not even sure these Kanji exist, but there's supposed to be three of them on Naruto's sword) If anyone reading this is good with Japanese, it'd be appreciated if you said so. I'm not very confident in the translation for the name I came up with for Naruto's Zanpakuto. The release phrase WILL be in English, though. It just sounds too badass not to be…


	3. A New Life

Well, it looks like Sakura is the first one eliminated… (All figures current as of the completion of this chapter; not its posting) Sakura is in last place with six votes, while Ino is next at thirteen, and Anko is in the lead at a whopping sixty-eight. ((Also; Tenten- 21 votes, Temari- 40 votes))

The only reason I'm calling Yondie by 'Namikaze Minato' is because I'm using his fan-name elsewhere in this fic. I was once insulted for calling the Yondaime 'Kazama Arashi' despite the fact that, at the time, his name had only been revealed a few weeks prior, whereas I had been calling him by his fan-name since I started writing fics. (Which happens to be about two years, if memory serves)

I continue calling the Yondaime 'Kazama Arashi' in most fics to spite the person who insulted me.

Now, why did I compare Naruto's Zanpakuto to the buster sword instead of Kubikiri Houcho? Simple. Naruto's sword, like the buster sword, has a beveled edge. All straight lines and angles, whereas Zabuza's sword curves into the tip… Also, Zabuza's sword _and_ Cloud's both have holes in them, but the buster sword's are smaller and less noticeable, and Naruto's sword has no holes at all. These are my reasons.

And if you haven't figured it out by now, I like dots. The 'triple-period' is one of my favorite things in the world, and as such, I tend to overuse it quite often. I'm sorry, that's just the way I write… (hehee, dots)

Just so you know, this chapter won't make much sense unless you read from chapter 45 to 50 in Bleach.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he woke. This was going to be a long day… just laying in bed recovering. It was a new experience for him, and he hated it. At least Rukia was there last night for him to talk to. Naruto shook his head. He was sighing again… he really needed to stop doing that all the time. It wasn't his fault she couldn't handle his past, even a shortened version. He'd left out some key details, but all the same, she couldn't handle it. The blonde still cringed when he thought of her cold grey eyes filled with tears…

…and he sighed again. Dammit…

The door opened, revealing the girl he barely recognized as the one to drag him to seek medical aid… his vision had been rather cloudy when they'd met after all. "Are you okay?" She asked softly, and then scoffed. "Of course you're not okay… sorry, standard question. Are you feeling better?"

Naruto nodded. "I believe it is because of your efforts that I'm still alive… I suppose I'm in your debt." He said in cold monotone.

"N-no, it was no trouble. I didn't do it because I wanted anything…" She said, waving her hands in front of her.

The blonde nodded again. "Still, it doesn't matter. I always repay my debts. Yours will be no different." Naruto turned his head to her, meeting her eyes for the first time. "Name it, and it will happen."

She barely kept herself from stepping back reflexively. His eyes were just so sharp and… cold. "Well, if you insist, I'll save it for something I really need, ne?" She received a nod in response. Footsteps were heard, and then Tatsuki turned, finding Rukia. "Hmm? Aren't you one of Ichigo's friends?"

The smaller girl nodded. "Y-yes, I am… if You don't mind, I need to speak to Na… Arashi-kun for a moment…"

Tatsuki blinked. Na? Kun? Did the two know each other? Turning back to glance at the blonde, she saw that his eyes had softened considerably. The sapphire pools showing so much emotion that she couldn't even identify it… it wasn't love, she knew that much, but compassion? Understanding? She couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like for a boy to look upon her with eyes like that… and then shook her head as her cheeks tinged pink. "Yeah, sorry, don't mind me…" Tatsuki muttered, stepping aside to let the other girl pass.

The tomboyish Tatsuki watched as Rukia sat down beside the blonde's bed, sitting on her legs in a seiza position. "They've agreed to let us stay here until the end of the school-year, at least." She said sadly.

"And the other problem?" Naruto asked cryptically.

She sighed. "I'm certain they've known where I am all along, and they should know your whereabouts soon too. The best thing to do would be to wait and see what happens."

Tatsuki was lost on the conversation, even as she saw the blonde nod. "What are you two talking about?" She asked.

"I… erm… left home." Rukia muttered, looking to Naruto for aid.

The blonde gave off a small sigh. "And since I left at about the same time, they think I kidnapped her. Big scandal… you really don't want to get involved." He lied flawlessly.

Tatsuki's eyes widened. "So… you two are like… lovers?"

Naruto chuckled as Rukia choked on her own spittle. "Maybe, maybe not, but this is the first I've heard of it."

Rukia composed herself just in time to add her own opinion. "Of course we're not lovers! What kind of pervert are you!?"

"I'm not a pervert!" The tomboy admonished. "It's just you say things like that, and people will think you two eloped!"

Naruto smirked. "And if we did?" He could barely contain his mirth at Rukia's indignant screech.

"What are you talking about!? We did no such thing!" She huffed.

The blonde smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, I know, it's still funny though."

Rukia wanted to yell at him, curse him, or just smack him, but something stopped her, and it took her a moment to realize what it was. His eyes weren't quite as dark as they were the day before. She let out a slow remorseful breath. Even as he'd told her his life story, he still hadn't trusted her. Even now, she could tell he still didn't… but he was starting to. "Hey, listen…" She muttered.

"Yeah, Rukia?" Naruto asked, his small smile still adorning his cheeks.

"I was just downstairs talking with the Kurosaki family… we're going to try and get you into class three, along with me and Ichigo, but it's going to take a little while, and it might not happen." She stated softly.

"Aw well, if not, there's always a chance you'll be in my class." The other girl said, somewhat cheerfully. "Arisawa Tatsuki, class five!" Naruto noted that she'd dropped into a pose frighteningly reminiscent of the 'Good Guy Pose'.

"Kazama Arashi." Naruto said with a fake smile, not that she'd be able to tell… Rukia might, but not Tatsuki. Holding out his hand, he added; "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise…" She said, gripping his hand in hers. She blinked for a moment. "That's some grip you've got there, you work out?"

"I could ask you the same…" Naruto said, his smile still on. "I used to work out every day, before this injury happened… you?"

"Ahh, I'm just really into kickboxing and other contact sports like that… do you practice martial arts?" The tomboy asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

The blonde blinked for a moment. "Do you mean Taijutsu? Hand-to hand combat?"

It was her turn to be confused and surprised. "Well, yeah, that's it exactly. I'd love to spar a bit once you're up and about."

Naruto chuckled darkly. "I'll do my best not to snap you in half."

"I don't think you could… Tatsuki's pretty tough…" Ichigo said from the doorway. "Come on, we'd better get you to your house so you can change for school, Tatsuki."

She nodded, and they both left, saying goodbyes to Naruto and Rukia. The blonde's features darkened slightly, and he reached down, gripping one of the bars on the medical bed. "Maybe not now…" His grip tightened, and he released the bar, leaving an indentation of his fingers in the steel. "But at full strength, she'd buckle like a twig." He added sadly, looking down at the hand that'd just bent steel. He'd been trying to snap the bar in two…

"Naruto, are you okay?" Rukia asked, using his name, since they were alone.

"I'll be fine in another day or two. Don't worry about me. You've got to get to school, right?" He asked in cold monotone.

Rukia nodded. "I'll be back as soon as school is let out." She then jumped up to her feet and dashed into Ichigo's room.

Naruto sighed. "You're not normal, are you?"

Isshin stepped around from the doorway. "That depends on your definition of 'normal' now doesn't it?"

The blonde chuckled. "I suppose I owe you for saving my life too, huh? It'd be rather unpleasant to die right now."

"Could you watch out for Ichigo for me? I'm worried about him…" The man said sadly.

Naruto turned his eyes to the ceiling. "This is your request?" He caught the man's nod in his peripheral vision. "So be it, then…"

--

Rukia sighed as she made her way to the shaded area near the school. She'd just finished speaking with several members of the school's administrative board regarding Naruto… a tiring affair to be certain. She just couldn't be sure if it was worth it or not… sooner or later, they'd both be carted back to Soul Society, and that would be the end of all of this…

"Hey, Rukia!" A decidedly feminine voice called out from under a shade tree. "Come over here!"

When Rukia turned, she saw that it was Tatsuki who had called her. Walking over, she silently asked what the matter was, only to be forced to sit by a pair of unwittingly strong arms.

"Tell us everything!" Orihime sang out, sitting down next to the girl she'd just practically shoved into the small ring of girls from class. "You know, about the boy at the clinic!"

Rukia blinked owlishly for a moment, before regaining her composure. "N-Naruto?"

Tatsuki had her arm around the smaller girl's shoulder in an instant. "Ooh, is that some sort of pet name for Arashi-kun?" She teased, whispering conspiratorially. "I knew there was something between you two…"

'_Shit!_' Rukia admonished herself. "Please, don't tell him I said that, and please never call him that yourselves! You have no idea how much he hates being called that!"

"But, isn't that the whole reason you call someone a different name?" One of the other girls asked.

"Well yeah, but…" Rukia grew silent at this. She had no way to stop it… "He might get a little… violent."

Everyone gawked at her… and then the gossip started.

"Violent?"

"Domestic problems?"

"An abusive boyfriend?"

" We need to help her!"

"Stop!" Rukia yelled, silencing them. "There's no abuse, no boyfriend, no anything! I just don't know what he'd do, okay?" Thinking back to their cover-story, Rukia mentally nodded. "I just haven't seen him in a long time, and it's like I don't even know him anymore…" Sheer brilliance, if she did say so herself.

"So, what do you remember about him?" Orihime asked curiously. Everyone was so into the conversation that their lunches were long forgotten in front of them.

All of the other girls seemed interested, and so, Rukia just bluffed her way through the conversation, using what positives she'd gotten from the story of his life and making up a few vague stories of her own. All of this talk of Naruto got her thinking of the conversation that morning…

_Rukia was seated at the dining table, in Ichigo's usual seat, while the orange-haired boy himself had pulled up an extra chair, and the remainder of the Kurosaki family was seated around the table._

"_OKAY!!" Isshin yelled, breaking the silence. "I talked to the Principal over the phone, and we still need to work out some details , but everything's already moving in the system… Rukia-chan, I think they're going to want to talk to you, since I told them about your knowing the boy prior to his moving here."_

_Rukia would've groaned if it hadn't matched with her oh-so-ladylike façade. "Why of course! I'd be happy to tell them everything I know." She chimed merrily. Ichigo simply sat there looking disgusted at his partner's antics._

"_Now, we need to consider rooming, as Rukia-chan and Arashi-kun are going to be living here for a while…"_

"_Uhhm…" Yuzu, the more timid of Ichigo's younger sisters, began. "Rukia could take my bed… I don't have a problem sleeping with Karin…" When the more tomboyish twin shrugged, Isshin began ranting again._

"_Great! Now that only leaves Arashi!" …If Naruto had been downstairs at the time, he would have been shocked at how familiar the man seemed to be with the 'Good Guy Pose'._

_Rukia raised her hand. "Couldn't you set up a futon in Ichigo's room? I understand that you need to keep all of the rooms for the patients vacant in case of an emergency…"_

"_Another excellent idea! I'll ask him once he's healed enough to be moved from his bed."_

"_Then I should go tell him…" Rukia said, rising out of her chair._

The gossiping continued, and Rukia lied flawlessly every time she was asked a question. She began to wonder if she was getting too much practice at being untruthful, but that passed as soon as it came. She was soon broken of her reverie when she heard a call from behind her.

"_Hiiimeee_" A red-haired girl chimed, before crashing into Orihime from behind. "I missed you! I was looking all over for you, and here I find you talking about some _boy_…"

…and then Tatsuki's foot came crashing into the side of the girl's head. "Dammit Chizuru, cut that out already!"

The resident lesbian, defying most laws of physics, simply shrugged off the blow. "You're _far _too masculine for your own good, Tatsuki!"

Rukia couldn't help but giggle slightly at the childish bickering that ensued… a little bit of normalcy a boon from her more hectic days of late.

--

Naruto's nap ended when Rukia and surprisingly, Tatsuki came to check on him after school. Tatsuki only dropped in for a moment, checking on him, and promising to bring her best friend and introduce the two of them tomorrow.

This left Rukia alone with the blonde boy… and a somber silence fell between them. "Hey, Rukia… could you bring me my sword?" The girl looked startled at first, until Naruto waved her off. "Don't worry, I won't be cutting anyone up with it… could you bring me a sewing needle too?"

Rukia, although perplexed by his request, acquiesced nonetheless. Upon asking around the household, it turned out that Yuzu was quite the little seamstress, even loaning Rukia an entire set of multi-sized sewing needles when asked for one. The small-framed Rukia had a difficult time lugging the blonde's large zanbatou back to him.

"So, what did you need these for?" Rukia asked as she sat beside the blonde's sword on the floor next to him, watching him examine the needles.

"I'm going to seal the sword into a more convenient location… my left arm, as it were." Naruto explained. "The needles are for an old trick that my old teacher taught me… a genius of a man, really. He was called a sage all across the world." Naruto selected the second largest needle, and set the small case down on his sheets. "He also claimed to be the world's biggest pervert… I think he might've been right, too." The blonde chuckled, even as he plunged the needle into the flesh on the back of his left hand, between his thumb and index finger. "He died, you see… not too long ago." Rukia couldn't help but cringe as he twisted the needle around in his hand, before removing it and sticking the wider threaded end into the wound. "Of course this means if you used to frequent bath houses in Soul Society before now, you should probably stop… He's always peeping somewhere…"

"What exactly are you doing?" Rukia asked, finally.

"Making a brush…" The blonde answered as he removed the needle and started writing on his arm with the drop of blood that remained. "You see, the hole where you put the thread through acts sort of like an inkwell in a fountain pen… it doesn't last very long, but it does the job in a pinch." He explained, dabbing the needle into his wound again.

Rukia watched in fascination as the blonde continued to write out his diagram. It took just over half an hour to complete, but both sat there in silence.

Once the seal array was complete, Naruto burned it into his skin just as Jiraiya had taught him, and asked for his sword. In a flash of light, it disappeared into the seal.

"Amazing!" Rukia gasped.

"Poof…" Naruto muttered. At Rukia's confused glance, he elaborated. "I was going for a poof, not a flash… I wonder what went wrong…" Naruto summoned the blade from the seal, and sealed it back inside with identical flashes of white light. "Well, the seal works…"

And then Naruto noticed something, and smirked. The large kanji within the sealing array representing his sword… was 'bastard'. ''_Unloved child' might be more appropriate…' _he mused.

Naruto then bid Rukia good night, and she nodded, leaving to the room she now shared with Ichigo's sisters.

--

Naruto's eyes shot open. He could feel… _something_. There was something coming… something _big_. Thinking back, he knew this feeling… it was the same as when he pretended to be dead; a large number of powerful Hollows.

The blonde flung the sheets off of himself, jumping down to the floor, only to groan as his legs hit the floor. He still hadn't fully recovered yet… this would be bad. Still, he sighed. He couldn't leave innocents to die while he could still stand, and he hadn't fallen over yet, right?

He smirked, dashing out the doors after grabbing a coat from Isshin's closet.

--

"Shut the hell up, Kurosaki Ichigo! I am your opponent!" The quincy yelled, pulling back on his bow… until the reishi arrow slipped from his blood-slicked fingers. "Oh n-"

The arrow was blocked by a massive blade the height of a man, made of blue steel. "Bastard…" Naruto muttered under his breath.

"You… another Shinigami?" Ishida asked ruefully…

…his rage was somewhat abated when he was slammed into the nearby stone wall, with the blonde boy's hand clenched around his neck. "If you ever point that bow of yours anywhere near Rukia again, I'll kill you." The blonde growled just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

As Rukia watched, the unspeakable happened… her heart fluttered.

"Now, what the hell is going on here? I kill dozens of hollows on my way here, and their numbers don't decrease in the least…" Naruto muttered, taking the time to swipe a hollow out of the air when it tried to pounce on him. "Now, I know this isn't natural, so what the fuck is happening?"

"He called them all." Ichigo proclaimed darkly. "Ishida used some kind of bait, and now we can't kill them all fast enough."

Naruto nodded, uncaring to whom the blame resided with. "Now, where are the big ones?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked.

"The huge ones with spikes on their necks… and giant forms that stretch into the sky…" The blonde growled, slashing through several more foes.

"You… you can't mean a menos?" Rukia muttered. She'd read about them in books, and even seen images of them when they were teaching about classes of hollows in the academy. His description perfectly matched a Gillian.

"Look!" Ichigo… or at least his body, roared. "Something's happening!"

Naruto looked up into the sky… all of the cracks in the sky out of which the hollows were appearing were coalescing into three groups, and the remaining hollows seemed to be following them. The blonde smirked. "So that's where they are, huh?" With a feral grin, he leapt towards the closest group of them.

Ichigo and Uryuu shared a glance before following, with Rukia close behind.

When they caught up, Naruto was letting off a large amount of Reiatsu, attracting the hollows to him, only to cut them down. "You! I am Ishida Uryuu, last of the Quincy! Who are you!?"

The blonde scoffed, shoving his blade through the skull-mask of another hollow. "I'm the guy that hates people that only think of clans and lineage…" Naruto mused out loud, before scoffing. "My name is Kazama Arashi… I'm a Shinobi."

Ishida's eye twitched. "…A ninja? Garbed in hospital clothing and a trench coat?"

"…And wielding a Zanpakuto." Naruto amended, splitting another hollow in twain. "Now are you going to help, or am I going to have to kill all these things myself?"

Ichigo nodded at his words, but Ishida just continued to glare. Naruto leapt away, leaving them with their own hoard of foes, as Ishida started into a lecture. The blonde didn't care one bit for things like that…

And so, Naruto continued cutting apart every hollow between himself and the large tears in the sky.

--

Urahara Kisuke looked out over the horizon to the blonde boy, and smiled. Things were getting interesting now… and so, he swooped down to the rescue.

--

Rukia watched in horror as a trio of Gillian-class Menos Grande ripped their way through the tears in the sky. There was no way any of them could take one of those things… and Naruto was still running straight at them.

"Naruto… Naruto! You can't fight them! Don't go!" She yelled, running after him, only to see him turn back to her, and vanish.

"Rukia…" She heard from behind her.

'_Shunpo?_' She wondered, turning around to find Naruto standing behind her, smiling. "You can't…"

"I've fought them before…" The blonde said with a shrug. He then turned his head to find an odd man with a white and green hat, geta, and strange garb. In all, it reminded him somewhat of Jiraiya… Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. He could tell he was strong, too… And so, he picked Rukia up by the scruff of her shirt, and tossed her at the odd man. "Keep her safe, or I'll kill you." The blonde said darkly before dashing off towards the menos again.

Urahara blinked owlishly, looking down at the girl in his arms and back at the blonde. And then he shrugged. At least he didn't have to put her under a binding spell now… "You heard the boy, stand back and watch."

Naruto rushed forward again, soon reaching the base of one of the giant hollows, and continuing upward, dragging his blade along the thing's body. It wasn't a truly debilitating wound, but it was a wound nonetheless as he made his way to his target; the thing's mask. From what he'd heard from Rukia, the mask was a hollow's weak point. He smirked when he saw one of the others charging up a red ball of energy. '_Perfect…_' He mused.

Upon reaching his target, he lashed out, slashing the thing's massive pointy nose from its face. Hearing the thing howl in pain gave him a strange feeling of gratification… a warm fuzzy blotch in his stomach. He smirked maliciously as he pumped reishi into his legs, leaping away as the massive blast of red crashed through the Gillian's face. He always loved that move, even if he never got to use it… get the enemy to target you, and jump out of the way so that they strike their ally… shinobi are just too smart to use it against.

Slamming his blade through the 'cheek' of the second menos, he leapt again, toward the third. Raising his blade to slash the entire mask in half, he continued on his path, even as the Gillian opened its mouth as if to swallow him whole… not like it'd be the first time he'd been eaten.

…and then the thing began charging that red energy again. "Well shit…" Naruto muttered, slamming the blade into the red orb.

The Hollow's mask exploded as the Cero destabilized. Rukia was distraught, however… Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

--

Tsunade was, as her wont during these past few days, enshrouded within her own blinding fury. The first thing the Godaime Hokage did, upon being reunited with the Yondaime Hokage, was plant her fist directly into his ribcage, shattering bone and whatever was behind him alike. After explaining her relationship with Naruto to Kushina, the buxom blonde had no charges pressed against her.

She was currently standing in a large room, alongside the Godaime Kazekage and their escorts, while the thirteen Shinigami captains were lined up along the sides of the room, with the first division captain at their head.

"I believe we all know why you are here, Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konoha…" Yamamoto intoned. "However, the matter has already been taken into consideration, and resolved."

"What do you mean, 'resolved'!? Last I checked, you had a hit out on Naruto's head!" Tsunade roared.

The old man nodded. "This is true… but, as I said, it has been dealt with. The order rescinded, and actions will be taken on the boy's behalf."

Tsunade couldn't help but blink at his open compliance. "Why are you helping him so easily?" She asked.

The old man let out a weary sound that might have been a sigh. "Eleven years ago, an order was passed down from the king of Soul Society, to our governing party. Rarely do we communicate directly with him, and as such, it was a grave matter indeed… especially as it pertained to the passing of a new law." He paused for a moment, taking a breath before he continued. "Until several hours ago, only forty-seven people within our chain of command knew of this law; myself and the Central Forty-Six, our heads of state. This law pertained to one Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto… and included only two words…"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly. "And this was?"

"…'Pity him'." Yamamoto grimly proclaimed. "As such, all charges against him have been dropped."

The room darkened slightly, and behind the first captain, a section of the wall began rising up, as well as part of the floor receding away, revealing a set of computer screens. The Twelfth Division captain hit a button on a remote device, and several images appeared on both screens… all of Naruto.

"We've been keeping track of the young lad, ever since we located him… I must say that it doesn't surprise me in the least that he suspects our intelligence… the boy is obviously intelligent." The odd face-painted man said. "Nonetheless, our intelligence is not absolute, but we can understand much of what has transpired since he went missing…"

"Who is this girl?" Tsunade asked, indicating a small girl who was the most recurring figure in the images besides Naruto himself.

"Her name is Kuchiki Rukia…" A sickly white-haired man informed her. "One of my subordinates… she disregarded the order to dispatch Naruto-kun, and instead, began aiding in his recovery."

"You see, she too is guilty of several minor crimes… but, pending a lenient sentence from the Central Forty-Six, all charges against her too, shall be dropped." Yamamoto continued.

Gaara was the next to speak. "And why is that?" He inquired in his usual monotone.

"Because, she appears to be… _important_… to the boy..." The nobleman leader of Sixth Division stated coldly. He was earlier introduced as Kuchiki Byakuya, and the Godaime pair could only assume he was some sort of relative to the girl.

"Depending on how the law regarding Naruto is deciphered…" Yamamoto started again. "It could pass on to those close to him, so long as their own transgressions are explicable."

Ukitake Juushiro, Rukia's superior, spoke then. "She was the victim of extenuating circumstance, you see…" Tsunade and Gaara both nodded, the red-head somewhat less enthusiastically than the blonde, even though neither was particularly enthused at the moment… "You see," Ukitake continued, "Naruto-kun even went out of his way to protect Rukia, once… you can tell that she's precious to him."

"Precious?" Sakura, who was acting as one of Tsunade's escorts alongside Kakashi, asked.

"Most people who show Naruto kindness are precious to him…" Tsunade said, with a sagely nod.

Ukitake nodded his understanding as well. "That makes sense…"

"Soutaichou-sama…" Gaara began, using Yamamoto's formal title. "With your permission, we would like to head an operation to recover Naruto. He does not belong in that world, after all, and we would be certain to give him a more acceptable lifestyle than he's had up until now. The people of Suna would openly welcome him, for instance…"

The older man nodded his assent, and everyone continued looking down at the images for a long while.

--

"So then, we have to change the plan, thanks to this 'Naruto' kid, don't we?" Gin asked, still smiling foxily.

"Yes, but only a minor adjustment…" Aizen answered calmly.

"We're moving the plans ahead faster right?"

"No, quite the contrary… if we can persuade Naruto-kun to join us, he would be a boon to our operation." Aizen's smirk was painfully apparent in his voice. "However, to do so, we must first let him grow attached to Rukia-chan, so that he follows her here. We will wait, and when the time is right, the plan will continue as we discussed…"

* * *

If any of you are wondering where all that power Naruto had in the first chapter went, it's _basically_ that his body was trying to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra, but since it wasn't chakra anymore, it couldn't. (Since it still wasn't used to running on reiatsu/reishi) And in essence, Naruto's newly acquired reishi filled the void. Naruto was using up his own power like he'd use the Kyuubi's. This _WORKS_, but only for about a minute at most, before Naruto burns through most of his reserves, after which he collapsed.

And if you're wondering about Naruto's seal, no. I have absolutely no idea if that Kanji exists. When I looked it up, the translator I use doesn't even have a word for 'bastard' in Japanese. ('Bastard' meaning a child born to unwed parents. By this definition, I'm a bastard myself. (I use my mother's maiden name) But I believe the original use of the word 'bastard' is 'a son who never knew his father' or 'a boy who has no family name to carry on'… a heavy insult, especially in feudal Japan) And 'unloved child' didn't come up with anything either. SO! I take on my creative author's rights to make shit up. XP

Now I know, I must be awfully confusing, saying 'Naruto can't use jutsu' after having him use Hiraishin in the first chapter… at that point, I was still working out how it'd make sense, so I'll admit, I fucked up. (I honestly forgot I'd had him use Hiraishin in the first place… whoops) Anyway, that'll all be explained in a couple chapters.

The ONLY reason Naruto was able to take down two Gillians in his current state is simple; Gillians are stupid. That's all there is to it. He would never have won if there'd been even one Adjuchas in there.

(A little bit of info, in case you've never seen this word before, since I use it in this chapter)

'Wont' - (Adjective) 'Accustomed to something' - Accustomed or likely to do something.

'Wont' - (Noun) 'Somebody's custom' - A habit or custom followed by a person or group of people.

…I love finding words that nobody uses anymore in the dictionary. XP


	4. School and Training

HAHA!! CHAPTER 59, PAGE 14!! Urahara tells Ichigo that his Hakushui (Soul Sleep) and Saketsu (Soul Chain) were destroyed by Byakuya, and thus, he has no powers left!

I'm relieved, because otherwise I'd have had to revamp a lot of plot here in a few chapters… moving on now.

I have ABSOLUTELY no idea how the classes in Bleach work, school-wise. In the manga, on those random character-info pages that appeared early on, it said that everyone was in class 3… except Tatsuki, who was class 5. I DO know that in Japan, the classes work differently than here in the US. We move from class to class, and the teachers stay in the same room all day. In Japan, the students stay in their room all day, while the teachers move around. BUT, Tatsuki and Orihime are seen in the same classes at times. How is this possible? I have no idea. My way of working it out? The first five periods of the day, they do their pre-determined classes, but the last three are electives that the students choose to go to. This ALSO gives Naruto a chance to be in some classes with Tatsuki.

Again, my fic, my rules… My bullshit is law here. No complaining if my class stuff doesn't make sense to you, or if that's not how it works in canon. You don't like it? Don't read it.

Just so no-one gets confused, there were three menos because not only was there bait to lure them, but Naruto's reiatsu brought in more Hollows than in canon. Assume the fight with the last Gillian went just as in canon.

Also, up until starting this fic, I had only watched the Bleach anime up through the Hueco Mundo arc, where I got tired of waiting, and started reading the manga, because it had progressed further. Upon starting this fic, I started reading through the Bleach manga, and continue to read through it as I write. (As of CH3, we were up to Bleach CH 52, just so you know) This means that I'm going to stop reading for a while, because I'm deviating from the Bleach plot, starting here.

We should start back into the regular(ish) Bleach plot as of chapter six or seven.

I apologize for my long-ass AN(s) but hey, I hate it when people don't know what's going on, (and thus I'm asked the same questions a dozen times over in PMs and reviews) so I explain it all here.

* * *

Rukia had been overjoyed when they found Naruto's half-dead body nearly half a mile from the fight with the Menos, even going so far as to hug the boy, aggravating his injuries. Urahara had been rather rude when he and Tessai dropped the four of them, (Ichigo, Ishida, Rukia and Naruto) off at the Kurosaki residence and left abruptly, but they were grateful nonetheless.

Rukia however, was very solemn. She stood before Naruto's door, having already taped Kon to the back of the toilet, and written the note to Ichigo, all that was left was to leave the second note in her hands for Naruto…

"You know, I can _feel_ you angsting on the other side of that door…" She heard from inside the room, which could only mean it was Naruto speaking. "Why don't you come inside, and we'll talk."

And so, Rukia reluctantly opened the door and walked inside, shutting it behind her. "Naruto… I…"

"Were you at least going to tell me goodbye?" He asked suddenly, chuckling at her shocked expression. "The title on the letter… 'goodbye', I just figured I'd have some fun."

Rukia sat down beside his bed, the note clutched in her hand. It was similar to the one she left for Ichigo, using the same code. Holding it out to him, she prepared to run for it just after he started reading. "Here…" She muttered.

He snatched the letter away from her, and tore apart the envelope, before flipping the paper open, and almost as quickly tossing it aside. "That's the best you could do? 'Ta-Nu-Ki'? I'm a shinobi. Code-breaking is one of our jobs."

"Y-you… already?" She mumbled.

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. "…'Naruto, I know you think you're in the same situation as me, but you're not. The Shinigami called off the order for your life while you were asleep. Please, whatever you do, don't look for me. Burn this letter, and go into hiding. Live a happy life.' …do you really think I'd buy that shit?"

She looked on him with wide eyes. "How did you…"

"Photographic memory… kinda' useful sometimes…" He muttered.

She nodded. "You know, you're looking better. The burn marks are almost gone already, and most of the other damage was internal… you'll be fine soon, but you'd never catch me if I ran…"

The blond sighed. "Then don't run. I'll protect you, y'know… I'm sure Ichigo would do the same."

"That's why I need to leave…" She said softly, rising to her feet.

"Hey!" Naruto called, causing her to turn back to him. "The knife on the desk, take it with you. For luck, y'know?"

She glanced at his bedside table, where an ornate knife with three blades sat… she didn't know it, but it was the very kunai he stole from his father. "Naruto… I couldn't possibly…"

"Just promise to return it someday…" Naruto said sadly. "Please? I know you don't have your Zanpakuto right now. Use that until you get it back."

She sighed, taking the blade into her hand, and then wrapping it in cloth before pocketing it. "Thank you, Naruto…"

"Well then, if you're going, you might as well go before one of us starts crying…" The blonde muttered jovially.

She couldn't help but return his smile, even though she could feel the tears behind her eyelids. She didn't want to leave any of them; Ichigo, Orihime, Tatsuki, Sado… and now Naruto. But still, she turned and walked away, never noticing the blonde's smirk.

--

As Rukia walked down the dark road, she never noticed she was being followed, until…

"You know, you shouldn't have left…" She heard from behind her. Turning, she saw her childhood friend, Abarai Renji leaning against the telephone pole she'd just passed. "And by the way? You're getting rusty. I've been following you ever since you left that place…"

Rukia, on instinct, plunged her hand into her pocket, pulling out the knife Naruto had given her, pulling the cloth from it with her other hand, and pointing it at Renji.

The red-head blinked, before howling in laughter. "You really think you could beat me with that? Tch, you're more rusty than I thought…" Catching a better look at the blade, his eyes softened. "Naruto gave you that, didn't he?"

Rukia paused, confused by her friend's words, before answering. "Yes, he did…"

"I know the guy that makes those… I met his wife back when I was in the Eleventh Division… do you know the special properties of those kunai?" He asked, and saw her shake her head. "Well, it doesn't seem to work for anyone but Naruto and Minato, but either of them can transport themselves to wherever one of those little daggers is almost instantly."

Rukia's eyes widened. "Then he…"

"Gave you that so that he could catch up to you the moment he was healed." Renji finished with a nod. "Damn you're gullible…"

She could feel her body go limp. Her arms fell to her sides, and the kunai fell from her hand, embedding itself in the concrete, showing just how sharp the blade was. Then she fell to her knees. "Why… why wouldn't he just leave me alone…?"

"Maybe because you're his friend?" Renji asked, holding out his hand to help her up. When she took it, he pulled her to her feet and scoffed. "You know, they were going to let you off the hook until you left. Something about the higher-ups liking this Naruto brat, and liking you because he likes you. I guess some people get all the luck, don't they?" He mused.

"What are you talking about?" She asked fearfully.

The red-head sighed. "You know, I asked to be the one to bring you in, because we're friends. I'll still be the one to do it if something goes wrong, and your sentence is too heavy to just drop because that damned brat thinks you like him." After a moment he shrugged. "Go back, just be happy, and forget everything, huh? No one's going to blame you. Even the captain can't argue with the Central Forty-Six."

"Renji…" She muttered sadly. She could hear the pain in his voice, and it hurt her.

"Just go…" He said softly, plucking the knife from the ground, and handing it to her. "And would it kill you to smile every now and then?" He chuckled.

Before he could disappear into the Senkaimon, Rukia called out to him. "Renji! … come visit sometime, would you?"

He smirked. "Sure… they'll need to check up on you every once in a while, right?"

And then he was gone, and both of their smiles fell.

--

Naruto woke up the next morning and sighed again. Oh how he _loathed_ sighing, but that seemed to be all he did ever since Rukia left… Oh well, he'd Hiraishin to wherever she wound up when he healed up, after all… in fact, he was feeling better already!

…and then something jumped on top of him.

"Good morning Arashi-kun!" …Rukia. She was back early, he mused. His jovial attitude was thrown out the window when she pressed the Hiraishin kunai to his throat. "I never left, do you hear me?" Naruto nodded. "I said '_do you hear me_'? Last night _never_ happened, got it!?"

"I KNEW IT!!" They both turned to the doorway, only to find Tatsuki standing there, pointing at them accusingly, with a head of long orange hair and a pair of large brown eyes poked out from the doorway.

Rukia and Naruto both looked back at each other, before Rukia jumped upward slightly. "What do you mean? Nothing happened!"

"What do you mean, 'nothing happened'!? What was all that talk about last night, then?" Tatsuki admonished, shaking her finger at the smaller girl.

The other girl came slightly out from behind the doorway, enough to show her face, and a single outstretched hand and finger. "What do _you_ think they meant, Tatsuki-chan?"

The tomboy smirked impishly. "I think he woke up while Rukia was doing something _naughty _to him!"

Naruto blinked. "Well, at least now I know that Rukia-chan likes to be on top…" He pointed out, noting that she was still straddling him. As soon as she realized what he'd said, she screeched, jumping off of him and falling to the floor, while the kunai in her hands flew up into the ceiling. "…well shit." He muttered.

"What did you mean by that 'she likes to be on top' thing!?" Rukia yelled.

"I think he means our timid little Rukia-chan is a bit domineering in bed…" Tatsuki chuckled.

The blonde quirked an eyebrow. "I think Rukia-chan was right… you _are_ a bit of a pervert, aren't you, Tatsuki?"

"I've always wondered about that, too…" The other girl said, finally coming into full view.

'_Wow…_'Naruto thought. '_Her boobs are huge._' Shaking those thoughts from his head, he turned back to the topic at hand. "Well, what else do you call someone who keeps making phallic and sexual references like that?"

"You're not much better, you know…" Rukia muttered angrily at the blonde.

Naruto scoffed. "Bah, anyway, who's your friend, Tatsuki?"

The tomboy smiled as she patted the top of the other girl's head. "This is Inoue Orihime. She may not seem like it, but she's actually pretty smart!" Orihime simply beamed under her friend's praise.

"I actually forgot all about Orihime not meeting him yet…" Rukia muttered to herself loudly enough to be heard by the others.

Before anyone seemed to notice, Orihime was already across the room, tugging on one of the blonde spikes that made up Naruto's crown. "Oh wow… so it _is_ your natural hair color, huh?" She giggled. "It's a lot brighter than Kurosaki-kun's, but I think I like his better."

Naruto briefly blinked up in her direction, meeting her eyes for an instant, before frowning and glancing off to the side. "Yeah, I should probably dye it, huh?"

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Orihime asked, taking an extra hard tug on his hair for good measure. "Didn't I just say you've got pretty hair? And it feels so weird… almost like fur…"

Naruto began grumbling. Whether it was from him being told off, or because Orihime had begun petting him like a dog, the others couldn't tell. Eventually, Naruto just exploded, swiping her hand away from his head and waving his arms about. "Would you stop that already!?"

To his dismay, at Orihime's prior statement, both Tatsuki and Rukia had to have a feel themselves. "It _does _feel like fur!" The tomboy said in surprise.

"It feels nice…" Rukia added.

Orihime, not wanting to be left out, went back to finding her own patch of hair to fondle. The blonde couldn't help but sigh, grumble under his breath, and take it while the three girls giggled and conversed between themselves.

--

They'd spent at least an hour talking about themselves and their classmates, who would soon be Naruto's classmates as well. Then Tatsuki and Orihime left for Orihime's apartment, leaving the blonde alone with the Shinigami girl.

Another hour of conversation and getting comfortable, and the pair were idly chatting away. It took Ichigo walking in to get them to realize just what it looked like. The orange-haired boy came into the room, blinked for a bit, gawked, and finally shook his head in begrudging acceptance. Naruto then looked up at Rukia, and she down at him. Their eyes met, and both blushed. Naruto laid with his head on Rukia's lap, while she had continued to unconsciously stroke his hair ever since the others had left.

Rukia promptly jumped to her feet and skittered to the opposite side of the room; which had the unfortunate (yet not undesired) side-effect of rolling Naruto off the bed to fall face-first into the floor. "Okay, that hurt a little…" The blonde muttered, rubbing his nose.

"It's your own fault!" Rukia yelled, muttering 'pervert' under her breath for good measure.

Naruto grumbled inaudibly to himself as he pushed off the floor and hobbled back to the bed. He was about to start talking again when he heard a cry from the doorway, and in hobbled a small stuffed lion. "Okay, what the hell is that?" The blonde muttered, pointing.

The toy was instantly incensed. "Hey, it's '_who_', not '_what_'!" The thing said as it jumped up onto Naruto's lap, poking him in the chest, an action the blonde soon concluded was its way of trying to punch him. "The name's Kon, and don't you forget it!"

Naruto, ignoring the plushie, turned to Rukia. "I reiterate; what the fuck is it?"

The girl sighed at the pair, even as Kon screamed he was a 'he' and not an 'it'. "He's a Mod Soul, an artificial soul in pill form that was modified for combat."

The blonde nodded. "Mod-Konpaku… explains the name…" He mused. "Hey, Rukia…?"

"Yes?" She replied.

"What do you do?" Naruto asked, before pausing and starting again. "I mean, I know Shinigami use other combat abilities besides just sword fighting, right? What are they?"

Rukia's face scrunched up slightly in thought, something the blonde couldn't help but find cute. "Well, I heard about four types of combat in the academy, but I've only ever practiced two of them; Zanjutsu, sword fighting, and Kido, which is comparable to your Ninjutsu."

"Huh, we've always called sword fighting Kenjutsu…" Naruto mused. "Anyway, would you be willing to teach me?"

Rukia stopped cold for an instant. She hadn't even thought of training the blonde, and Ichigo was worse off than him, and she'd never thought of teaching him anything either. Did she think he just didn't need that training? She glanced down at her hand and flexed it. Her power wasn't returning at all… and if that was the case, Ichigo would be her replacement for a long time to come… he'd need more than just a really big sword eventually… "I'll teach you… but I'm going to be teaching _both _of you."

"What? But why?" Ichigo asked indignantly.

Naruto, however, scoffed. "Because your control probably sucks. Have you ever had any training?" The blank look on the orange-head's face was all he needed to see. "Even in my current state, I could still beat you. That's why."

"I'd love to see you try!" Ichigo yelled back.

He wasn't expecting the blonde to actually get out of bed, though. "Alright, then… where to?"

"Naruto, don't, you're in no condition to fight!" Rukia interrupted.

The blonde narrowed his eyes at the girl, who stepped back instinctively. He just sighed, though. There was no way he'd be able to keep his name secret, since at least one person knew it already.

"'Naruto'?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"Ramen-related accident when we were kids. I don't like to talk about it." Naruto lied flawlessly. He then narrowed his eyes dangerously and leaned towards the orange-head. "Rukia is the _only_ person allowed to call me that, you understand?" Glancing around, he noticed something… "And where are my pants?"

Rukia blushed as she remembered that underneath that oversized shirt of a medical smock, the blonde was completely nude. "Ah-I'll go ask Kurosaki-san!"

She turned around, only to have a pair of blue jeans flung in her face. "How many times have I told you to just call me Isshin, already? I hate formalities." The head of the house said from the doorway, smirking before he added. "Isn't that right, Kazama-kun?"

Naruto couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. "You, sir, are a walking contradiction."

Isshin snickered as he leaned a crutch against the wall. "Just put your pants on…"

"That was rude…" Rukia muttered angrily as the doctor left.

"You should've seen him back when he used to drop-kick me awake in the mornings…" Ichigo mused.

Naruto, however, snatched the pants away from Rukia, and proceeded to nod towards the door. When she tilted her head in confusion, the blonde cocked an eyebrow. "Well, I didn't know you were _that kind_ of girl, Rukia-chan…" Naruto started, leaning down to fit his right leg into the pants. "But if you _really_ want to see it…" When he looked up again, she was gone, leading the blonde to chuckle.

--

The three stood in a park near the Kurosaki clinic. Naruto had needed the crutch to get this far, but currently had it leaned against a nearby park bench, on which sat Ichigo's body. "Okay, I want a _clean_ fight between you two." Rukia said, acting the referee for the fight. "Which means if it gets bloody, the fight is over, and I'm going to hurt whoever bloodied up the other, got it?"

Both nodded, and Naruto slid up his left sleeve, revealing the intricate seal holding his blade. Holding his hand over the seal for a moment, the blade appeared in a flash of light, and he pointed it towards the orange haired boy. Ichigo, too, drew his weapon.

"Okay then… go!" Rukia yelled, jumping back from between them.

Naruto dashed forward, and Ichigo had barely an instant to block. However, Naruto's blade sunk halfway through Ichigo's. "You lose." The blonde muttered, and with a flick of his wrist, Ichigo's Zanpakuto was snapped in two. "Now, in a situation like this, what do you do?" Ichigo reared back and slugged the blonde in his jaw, sending him flying several feet, landing on his back. "…that isn't what I meant."

Ichigo was sent to the ground by a boot to his back. "What did I just say!?" Rukia yelled. "Naruto is right. What you _should_ have done was back away and use Kido for ranged fighting, but since neither of you know any Kido, that's fine for now."

Ichigo blinked. "But, what about my sword?" He asked, holding up both halves of the broken blade.

"Don't worry." Rukia said, crossing her arms and scowling at him. "It'll fix itself within a few days, maybe a week at most, so don't worry about it."

And so, they placed both halves of the Zanpakuto back in its oversized sheath, and returned Ichigo to his body. "Now, Naruto…" Rukia continued. "Since you just _happened_ to be the one to break it, you'll be handling any hollows that show up."

The blonde shrugged. "It's not like I couldn't take them all anyway."

This earned him a smack upside his head. "That isn't the point, Naruto. Ichigo is pretty much useless without his Zanpakuto, so you're taking responsibility." She said, ignoring Ichigo's indignant yells. "By the time Ichigo needs his Shinigami form again, his Zanpakuto should have fixed itself."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia sighed. "Zanpakuto are sentient weapons that are essentially made from their user's soul. It's different for some people, but most of us get ours after the academy, when we know how to use it. Every Zanpakuto has three states; the sealed form, the Shikai, and Bankai. When you're ready to hear the Zanpakuto's name, you get its Shikai. That's as far as I've gotten with mine. Bankai takes years, sometimes even decades of training to obtain, let alone master." Rukia explained, and had even drawn several diagrams to aid in the explanation. Ichigo took it as normal, having seen her drawings before, but Naruto couldn't help but snicker a little.

"You really like rabbits, don't you, Rukia?" Naruto intoned, seeing that most of the drawings were little bunnies.

"Yeah, so what?" She spat, blushing slightly.

"Ohh, nothing…" He started, smirking, and then he said it. "…_Usagi_-_chan_."

And so, she hit him again, knocking him to the ground. "Where do you get off calling me a _little rabbit_!?" She yelled as she continued to lightly pummel him, almost playfully.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh as he evaded or blocked her half-hearted barrage. "It's just a nickname! _A nickname!_"

Ichigo scoffed. "Sounded more like a _pet name_ to me…"

This made the girl's eye twitch. "A _pet name_!? That's even worse!" Thus, she started hitting a little harder.

"Oi, stop…" Naruto said between laughs, trying to quell what he thought was mock anger. "I said stop, please?" When she didn't, he flipped her over onto her back, pinning her arms under his hands. "I said please…"

Looking up into his sapphire eyes, shining so darkly, she couldn't help but feel a little helpless, and frightened… like a cornered rabbit. She didn't really know him, what he'd do if incensed, why did she have to try to piss him off? And then he did something she wasn't expecting… he let her up, and held out his hand. "N-Naruto?"

"Well, let's go on to Kido, ne?" He asked nonchalantly, causing her to blink.

She took his hand, letting him pull her up, and dusted off her dress. "Uhm, okay…"

Naruto smiled softly. He'd only meant to scare her a little… not freak her out… he'd have to apologize later.

--

He gave the door a tentative knock, and was told to enter by the very girl he'd come to see. She was laying on Yuzu's bed, reading manga. Her eyes widened slightly when she realized who had entered, but she did her best not to show her surprise. "Naruto… are you okay? Are you sure you should be up now?"

The blonde puffed out his chest and smirked. "It'll take more than an unearthly explosion right in my face to keep me down for more than a few days." He said, and then stopped, drooping into a depressed look. "Listen, Rukia… I'm sorry about earlier today."

"N-no, it's okay, Naruto… I'm the one who didn't stop, it's my fault…" She said, she'd been thinking ever since getting back, and he had every reason to hate her for hitting him, he'd had too much of that in his life already. "I'm sorry, Naruto…"

The blonde simply walked up and ruffled her hair. "It's fine, Usagi-chan, no harm done."

She glared up at him. "Don't call me that…"

"Don't call me _Naruto_." He countered with a smirk.

She scoffed, but let him be for now. Waving him away, she turned back to her manga, but he wasn't leaving. "What is it now?"

"I'm starting school tomorrow…" He said softly. Her eyes widened, and she sighed.

"And you want me to help acclimate you to their culture?"

"No, just correct me when I screw up, help fix any problem situations that might come up, things like that…" He shrugged. "Simple stuff…"

She sighed again. "Alright, I'll help… but don't expect me to stop calling you 'Naruto'…"

He smiled. "That's fine with me, Usagi-chan…" He waved before walking out of the room. Both of them couldn't help smiling for the rest of the night.

--

"Okay, class, today we have a new student joining us. Please, come in and introduce yourself." The home-room teacher said, gesturing to the door, which opened, revealing Naruto.

Most of the class was silent in an instant, upon seeing his obscure features. Sunny blonde hair, bright blue eyes, whisker-like marks along his cheeks… frankly, he looked… _exotic_.

"My name is Kazama Arashi. I like ramen, making friends, and tending to plants. My hobbies are gardening and training in martial arts. I dislike pricks who think blood makes you noble, and how everyone assumes that I am a delinquent, simply because I look different. I don't have any dreams at the moment, other than to someday have a loving family to come home to." He said with a bow. "Any questions?"

The first hand to shoot up was one of the girls that Rukia ate lunch with… not that Naruto knew that. "How do you know Rukia?"

This got the interest of most of the class, particularly the girl in question, who blushed slightly and sighed. The blonde answered nonetheless, however. "We used to live in the same town. We both moved away around the same time, but I haven't seen her in quite a few years. Next question?"

"Why are you all bandaged up?" One of the boys asked.

Naruto scoffed, tugging at the few visible bandages around his arms. "Apparently, people around here don't like guys with naturally bright hair colors." Ichigo couldn't help but snicker at the other boy's words.

"So, your hair is naturally that color? Were your parents from another country?" Another girl.

Naruto blanched slightly. "I never knew my parents, so I wouldn't know. I'd assume so, though."

"So, you were an orphan?" A pang ran through Rukia's heart when those words were said, but it wasn't anything she hadn't learned about Naruto before.

The blonde sighed. "You might think it's a little cliché, but I was left at a temple when I was born. The old monk there taught me how to live on my own, but not much in the way of schooling, so I might seem a little stupid. He died recently, you see, and I just left. Nothing more for me there, you know? I'm currently staying with Kurosaki-san's family, who graciously offered to put me up until I could find my own place. I can just read through Ichigo's old textbooks until I'm caught up, though."

"And what about those marks on your cheeks?"

"What about them? I'd assume they're birthmarks, since they've been there for as long as I can remember." He answered blandly.

"I think that's enough questions for now." The teacher said, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Why don't you just take any empty seat until we find you a permanent placement, ne?"

Naruto nodded, and headed off to sit behind Rukia.

--

Naruto sighed as everyone left for lunch. He didn't want to be here, but this was the most inconspicuous place for a fifteen-year-old to hide. In school, with the other fifteen-year-olds. He didn't know anyone here, and to be honest, he didn't really want to. He knew Rukia, Tatsuki, Orihime and Ichigo… and they were enough for him. Still, he was certain that he wouldn't be left alone… of course he was usually right.

"So this is the guy!"

"Who thought she'd nab someone so _exotic_?"

"He's dreamy…"

"He looks _constipated_ to me…"

Naruto's brow furrowed more with each word that came out of the girls' mouths as they inspected him, circling around his desk like vultures…

"Would you all just back off for a second?" Tatsuki growled as she and Orihime joined them. "You know, some people like having a little something called _breathing room_."

"Hey, let's all have lunch together!" Orihime cheered.

"Hime-chaaan…" Chizuru announced her presence by coming up behind Orihime and hugging her around the waist. "Let's just go, you and me? We'll leave those icky boys behind, and then I can eat your-…" She was interrupted by a kick to the side of her face, courtesy of Tatsuki.

Naruto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at their interaction. Was this a daily occurrence?

While Tatsuki and Chizuru argued, Orihime approached Naruto again. "So, do you want to have lunch with us? Chizuru is welcome to come, too…" She spotted a shorter, dark-haired girl trying to slink out the doorway with her bento, but caught her before she could make good her escape. "And you too, Rukia!"

The Shinigami girl mentally cursed her luck. There was no way she could stand the perky, cheerful typhoon that was Orihime today… she still had a lot of thinking to do regarding Renji's words the other night.

But still, she put on her cheerful façade, and turned to meet her. "I'd love to!"

--

Naruto sat between Rukia and Orihime, with Tatsuki on her other side guarding her from Chizuru's advances. The rest of the circle was made up of the other girls from their classes. Naturally, they waited for one of them to start drinking before they spoke. Rukia happened to be the unfortunate victim.

"So, how long have you two been dating?"

Rukia began choking on her juice. "W-what!? We haven't even _started_ dating!"

"Oh-ho, so you two _are_ a couple?"

"No! Of course not! He's-…"

Naruto placed his hand on Rukia's shoulder, stopping her. "I think what she means is, we aren't dating, nor do we have any intention to do so. We're just friends." Rukia nodded her assent, and he went back to eyeing his own unopened juice box, before smirking. "…although I wouldn't _mind_ a date or two…"

"W-wha-!?" Rukia began sputtering in shock, before it gave way to rage, and she slammed her fist into the top of his skull. "Don't encourage them, you're only making things worse!"

She was infuriated by the fact that he seemed to have barely felt her strike. "Yeah, I know. It's more fun that way, though, isn't it?" He asked with a smile.

Rukia grumbled for a moment, before snatching his juice away from him, and poking the straw into it with a huff, tossing it back to him.

"I would've gotten it eventually…" He muttered, taking a sip.

Everyone else though, thought their short spat was one of the cutest things they'd ever seen.

"Ohh, you two are so sweet!"

"Completely made for each other!"

"They do look compatable…"

"I wonder what their kids would look like?"

Rukia huffed in frustration as the blonde instigator of her plight chuckled under his breath. "Hey, how about we change the subject now? I think Usagi-chan's getting a little miffed…"

Everyone there aside from Naruto went wide-eyed at his words. "'Usagi-chan'?" Orihime asked.

"Oh my god! They're already calling each other pet names!"

"'Little Rabbit' is just so _cute_!"

"I know! I wonder what she calls him?"

"It doesn't matter…"

The blonde was struck in the back of his head by an irate Rukia. "_NARUTO!_"

They all blinked. "Fish-cake?" Tatsuki asked, suppressing a smirk.

"You see? She _does_ have a pet-name for him!"

"Why 'fish cake' though?"

"I dunno…"

"…Why should I care?"

Naruto slammed his fist into the dirt beside him, creating a small crater. "_NO ONE_ calls me that name but Rukia. It regards a ramen-related incident from when we were younger. _NO MORE QUESTIONS. _Got that!?"

The group was shocked into silence for a moment at his outburst, until Tatsuki timidly scooted closer, rubbing her hand through his hair. To be honest, she was somewhat frightened by him, but she was the strong girl, wasn't she? If she couldn't handle the situation, and disperse the tension, who could? "Yeah, of course we do…" She said with a forced smile.

Naruto saw how frightened she was… hell, she was trembling… he sighed. "I'm sorry. I get a little frustrated sometimes…"

"…when you think about the past?" Rukia added in.

The blonde blinked, glancing over to meet the younger looking girl's eyes. His mouth hung open slightly in disbelief, until he let out a small breath, and smiled softly. "Yeah, that's exactly it, Rukia-chan…"

A serene smile was his reply as Orihime began on the subject of what she'd brought for lunch, leading the others to do the same.

--

"Hey Arashi, wait up!" Tatsuki called out, rushing after the blonde. Naruto had just made it to a park, where he was going to start meditating when he heard her, and turned back.

"Yeah, what's up?" Naruto asked, giving a slight wave. "What can I do for you?"

Tatsuki jogged down the hill to him, and took a deep breath, before letting it out slowly. "I want to fight you."

Naruto blinked owlishly, before glancing up to Orihime, who was still standing on top of the ridge Tatsuki had just descended. The orange-haired girl looked… worried. Whether him or her best friend, Naruto couldn't quite tell, but nonetheless, he sighed. "Alright, but I'm holding back…"

Rukia and Ichigo arrived from the other direction just in time to catch the girl's rebuttal. "What, just because I don't have a dick, you think I need you to hit me _softer_?" She scoffed, giving him a dirty look. She'd honestly have to rethink her opinion of the boy…

"No, that isn't it, but if you'd like, I won't hold back." The blonde settled into a defensive stance. "Come on then, _girlie_…" Naruto added, knowing it'd incite her rage, and incline her towards an offensive strategy.

He was not disappointed, as she dashed forward with her right arm cocked back to punch. Most of the other martial arts students would have barely been able to see her move… but Naruto had been trained in Taijutsu, and had seen fights of Jounin level in the past. Her speed was almost shameful to him… _almost_.

Before she could react, he'd snapped out with his left hand, catching her wrist as he dodged her punch. Just as simply, he slipped his other hand under her shoulder, vaulting her over him with her own momentum. This was not the end of his counterattack, however, as he used her arm as a focal point for his own flip backward to slam his foot into her stomach, just under her solar plexus just as she struck the ground.

He then released her, allowing her a moment to roll onto her front, and while on all fours, empty her stomach onto the grass. The blonde then casually draped himself over her, softly cradling her neck and jaw in his arms. "And from here, I snap your neck for an easy kill…" Her eyes widened in shock, and she tried to struggle, but in her current state, even his soft hold was enough to subdue her. "…You still think I don't need to hold back?"

She shook her head as tears poured from her eyes, more from choking on her own spittle and gastric acids than his threat on her life.

"Naruto, let her go already!" Rukia yelled, rushing over as did Orihime.

Ichigo stood off behind them, his brow furrowed as always, but the blonde could tell he was putting special care into the glare he was sending out at the moment. Naruto, in response more to the two girls than Ichigo, shifted his arms and weight so that he was supporting the girl he previously held in a headlock, before scooping her up in his arms in a bridal fashion, causing her cheeks to flush involuntarily.

"Come on, we should stop by the hospital. You should have a professional look you over." The blonde said to the girl in his arms. "I want to be sure I didn't do any permanent damage."

--

After their stop by the hospital, which they were all surprised to hear was run by Ishida's father, Ishida Ryuuken. Naruto had made an excellent point while they were walking there. That he wouldn't put Tatsuki in the care of a pervert like Isshin, or any man for that matter, while they had a legitimate reason for having her remove her shirt. And thus they had sought out the closest medical facility certain to have at least one female staff member; the hospital owned by the elder Ishida.

Tatsuki was in perfect health, aside from some minor bruising to several ribs, a backache and a large blue-ish black spot just between her navel and solar plexus.

As they passed the park again, they all stopped there at Naruto's request. The sun was setting off in the distance, and they had families to go home to… most of them, anyway…

"Orihime…" Naruto said as he stopped, and turned towards the group. "I want you to head over to Tatsuki's house, and inform them that she will be staying at your place for the night. Ichigo, Rukia, make up something for why I'm not there."

"And what about us?" Tatsuki asked, still holding her stomach lightly.

The blonde gave the girl a warm smile. "We'll be training. I'm sure Orihime wouldn't mind you dropping in a little later so you can sleep in time for school, right Orihime?"

The orange-haired girl gave a shake of her head. "No trouble at all! Tatsuki has a copy of my apartment key anyway…"

Naruto nodded. "Rukia, you, me, and Ichigo will start our training tomorrow after school, and then I'll meet Tatsuki here at dusk, and escort her home. The weekend is in a couple of days, right? We should be able to manage a full night of training then."

"Why train at night?" Tatsuki asked.

Naruto's eyes sharpened. "Fewer people to stumble across us…" He intoned.

The others nodded solemnly. "Well, if everyone's okay with this plan, we should get going." Rukia stated, turning away to head for home.

"Yeah, I don't mind…" Tatsuki muttered loudly.

And so, they all said their goodbyes for the evening, leaving Tatsuki alone, facing the blonde. "So, what is it you want to teach me?" She asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Taijutsu forms, Chakra… erm… Reishi, whatever it is you have, I'll teach you how to control it…"

Tatsuki's eyebrow rose. "What are you talking about?"

The blonde rubbed his chin for a moment before responding. "Well, I have a special power inside me, call it whatever you like, but you have a similar power inside you. I can feel it." He said with a smile. "And I'm going to use my power to help you learn to use yours."

"That's ridiculo-…" Before she could finish her words, she was forced to her knees by an immense pressure on the air. It took most of her strength to stay sitting upright, and the rest to glance at Naruto. She could _feel_ the waves of power rolling off of him, and could almost see them as well.

"This is part of that training. This is called 'Reiatsu' …spirit pressure. If you can learn to move around and fight while hindered by my Reiatsu, it should act like weight training, increasing your strength and speed while not under its effects by a factor of five or more. _But_…" He stopped, as did his Reiatsu. "That's not what we're working on tonight."

He was right… she could feel it. She felt lighter already, like she'd just finished a half hour of weight training. "T-then what are we doing tonight?"

The blonde smirked. "You're going to learn how to tap into your _own _power…"

She swallowed impulsively.

* * *

GRRR!! _Every single fucking time I write for Renji, I think about Axel from Kingdom Hearts II!!_

I mean, are they really that similar!?

…And now I'm starting to think of Naruto like Shinjiro Aragaki from Persona 3… What is it with this fic and reminding me of people? (This time, I KNOW the two are different)

And no, I don't know what the seating arrangements in Ichigo's class are. I'm just assuming the seat behind Rukia is free. My fic. My BS. Deal with it.

I don't know what everyone (like Orihime) calls every one of their classmates, but I KNOW that she calls Ichigo 'Kurosaki-kun'.

Okay, I've been reading through the manga, and Rukia tells Renji that she was adopted by the Kuchiki family forty years ago. I don't know exactly how monumental this information is, but it might be important later on. I dunno.

One question that many of you must be asking yourselves is, 'why didn't Kenpachi just slice through Naruto's sword in chapter one?' well, the answer to that is, Naruto was stronger than Kenpachi at the time. Naruto, at the start of the fic, is estimated at 0.3 Kenpachi's. (YES. Kenpachi is a unit of measurement!) Since I'm assuming his eye-patch takes him down to 1/5 power, and the seal that's put on every captain or vice-captain takes him down another 1/5, Kenpachi would be fighting at 0.1 Kenpachi's, while Naruto is at 0.3, make sense? With all the seals on Kenpachi, Naruto was about three times as powerful, since he didn't have any seals. (Hell, he was fighting at about three times normal capacity, so he'd be more like 0.9 at the time)

ANYWAY… I've said it before, but I like to update _something_ every month. If not this fic, than another one. This just happened to be the fic I did my 'monthly update' with.

A little change of plans, Next chapter will be more character development, and the confrontation with the Konoha-nin will happen in the chapter after that, and only the TOP TWO Kunoichi from the votes will be in the harem now.

Since the Foreword at the beginning of the chapter was a little long, I'll stick this here. It looks like Ino is out, with 20 votes, while Anko and Temari are in the lead with 106 and 60, respectively. Tenten is in third with 28, meaning she'll probably be the next girl out. (These numbers were taken upon the completion of this chapter, not its posting)


	5. The Calm and the Storm

I changed my name to something a tadbit more... _unique_. I intend to use Dalxein for all of my accounts just about everywhere now.

I have no idea what club it is Tatsuki is in. I'm just going to say it's Judo, and be done with it. Also, I'm going by the manga in most things, like Orihime's eye color (it's gray in the anime, but brown in the manga) But, since I can't _FIND_ Tatsuki's eye color manga-wise, I'm just going with gray.

This may be a little confusing, but I'm going to have a little bit of Tatsuki-time, and then go back a few days to a moment of Naruto/Rukia goodness, and then the two timetables will meet up at the end of the week.

I apologize if I simply 'ghost' over several days, but if I didn't, I'd bore myself out of writing. I'm sorry, too much detail? I tried that once with UE, people didn't like it, and frankly, I'm STILL trying to start the next chapter of that…

As I probably said already, I'm no good at 'dark' fics, but I _can_ make them gory, emotional, and sad, and keep a REASON to have this fic under 'Hurt/Comfort', dammit!

* * *

Naruto could barely see what was happening… he could barely distinguish sounds either; all he could see was the white and blue mosaic sky ceiling of the room he was in. It sounded like a battleground, though…

Why wasn't he fighting too?

Why was he just laying there?

Why couldn't he do anything?

These went unanswered as the conflict spilled into the room he was in, and a bloodied woman leaned over him. Her hair was flaming red, and her eyes were a deep emerald green… As a trail of blood trickled down from her lips, she kissed his forehead softly, trembling with each motion. Tears flooded her eyes, even as she whispered out a silent apology…

"_I'm so sorry…_"

…before her skull exploded, showering his vision in red.

--

"_MOTHER!!"_ Naruto screamed, shooting up from his futon, his sheets caked to him with cold sweat. His voice had roused Ichigo from his bed not five feet away, and the other boy's eyes met the blonde's for an instant, and all of the fear, sorrow, and hopelessness in them was little more than a book to be read for anyone, shinobi or not.

Ichigo was speechless for almost a minute before he found his voice. "…your mother…?"

Naruto turned his head away in an instant, shaking with an unknown mix of emotions now that his face wasn't visible. "It's nothing… just a nightmare. Go back to sleep…" The blonde muttered, laying back down so that he was facing away from his roommate, seemingly uncaring to his uncomfortable bedding.

--

By the time they'd gotten back to school after the weekend, Tatsuki had already found her 'power' and had begun training with Naruto in how to use it. 'Training' meaning the blonde using his Reiatsu and superior skill to keep Tatsuki from dealing anything close to major damage while she tried to infuse her punches and kicks with Reishi.

Just like he'd told her before…

"_Why are we doing this? I mean, wouldn't this be cheating if I used it in a fight?" Tatsuki asked as she meditated, something the blonde had her doing for nearly an hour already to tap into her mysterious 'power'._

"_Your martial arts teach you to use every part of yourself as a weapon, yes? This counts as part of you, and thus, couldn't you take it as being _encouraged_ to use it?" She had to admit, he did have a point… "And, there are no drugs involved, and no screening test I know of can detect it, other than another person with a similar power, and even then, they'd be disqualified as well if they tried to have you kicked out for it." Again, he had a point._

Then again, that was only the start of the training… the next night was even worse.

_Tatsuki had finally gotten past the initial 'phase' of training; locating her center of energy. Her 'core'…_

"_You need to remember Tatsuki…" Naruto said as he ducked under another punch. "Once we get this ability up to the point where it can be used effectively, you must then use it _sparingly_."_

"_Huh? Why?" Tatsuki asked, pausing just long enough to let herself be knocked to the ground, rubbing her chin._

"_Because this technique is very damaging if used too many times in succession." Naruto explained. "As you are now, you can't properly focus it enough to damage your muscle tissue, but once you become adequate with the technique, you'll need to reserve it as a… 'finishing blow' you might call it."_

"_Well what about you, and the person who taught it to you?"_

_The blonde crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the girl condescendingly. "Because my body naturally repairs the damage at an increased rate, and she was a medic who could use her power to heal herself." He leaned over in order to come closer to looking at her eye-to-eye, even though she remained on the grass. "You have neither."_

"_So then why teach me anyway?" She asked angrily._

"_Because it's the only thing I can teach you that you can use. Now get up, we only have another hour before you need to be home in order to get enough sleep for school tomorrow." He said, holding out his hand to her._

So now, she sat in class, twirling a small pressed flower by its stem as she pondered the past few days, including the fiasco in which she procured it…

It was the day before yesterday, the day after they'd started their last week of school before the summer, and two schooldays after she'd found out that she shared two classes with a certain foxy blonde. She had herself a little giggle as she thought that… sure he was a _little_ exotic, but 'foxy' just fit him perfectly. He hid it well, but he was so mischievous and unpredictable, he could be cold and calculating one second, and then laugh as Keigo fell for another one of the blonde's traps.

In truth, he probably set them for Ichigo to fall for, but it always seemed to be Keigo… the boy was quite honestly a prank magnet, especially with the way he was always crying out for attention. Maybe that was why 'Naruto' seemed to hang around him so much? From what she could glean from the blonde himself and Rukia, he was quite similar in his youth. Maybe it was some sort of subtle way of telling him that he might be happier as something other than the class clown?

She shook her head as she twirled the flower again. Her mind was wandering so often these days… She'd found the small white blossom between two pages in her textbook, as if it was marking her place. Judging from how well it held its shape, it couldn't have been there for any less than the entire time from when she'd closed the book the previous day and when she'd opened it the next… and the knowing smirk on the blonde's face told her exactly who'd put it there.

Naruto.

It was probably just some way of him thanking her for helping to save his life the night they'd first met, but somehow, the girls nearby when she'd confronted him about it seemed to think he'd set his sights on her… then they made a big deal about Naruto cheating on Rukia, and in the end, both Tatsuki and Rukia had smacked the blonde upside his head, and that was that.

She chuckled under her breath again. He really could be sweet when he wanted to… Her thoughts were interrupted as the bell rang; indicating the end of classes for the day… tomorrow was the last day of classes before summer. She nodded her head to herself.

She had a blonde to find.

--

Rukia was staring at a head of blonde hair, grumbling to herself as she followed behind him. Keigo had shown up that morning, dragging Naruto and Ichigo out of the house to get them all to walk to school together. Naturally, Rukia had tagged along, since she also needed to go to the same school.

She couldn't understand it… how was it that he was so cheerful, and energetic, when he did more than anyone else? He had school, training with her and Ichigo, _and_ training Tatsuki after that?

She grumbled to herself, promising to confront him the first moment they were alone.

And so she did, when Naruto was sneaking back into the house after his training with Tatsuki. He gave a little yawn, but made no motion to indicate that he knew Rukia was there. So, she coughed into her hand, and he turned toward her, smiling.

"So, how long have you been there, Usagi-chan? You must be tired…" He said, snatching a few fruit from the kitchen. He honestly thought Rukia looked rather cute, standing there, huffing in frustration in one of Yuzu's sets of pajamas.

"How do you do it?" She asked. "How can you keep doing… well, _everything_ and make it look like it's nothing?"

Naruto smirked, setting down an orange as he tossed an apple to Rukia, before he put his hands into a ram seal. "Nin-nin…" He muttered playfully.

Rukia blinked for a moment, before narrowing her eyes at him. "Oh, right… you used to be a ninja…" She muttered, before grumbling something unintelligible.

"Remember, growing girls need at least nine hours of sleep every night!" He called out to her as she began stalking back to the room she shared with the girls, only to get a rude and fairly phallic gesture in return, which only served to send him into a laughing fit.

Though she never showed it, she was smiling too.

--

It was the last day of school for the summer, and the bell had just rung. Everyone was celebrating, except one… Tatsuki was a woman on a mission. She found Naruto hanging out with Ichigo's friends along with Rukia, as always. He was simply sitting there, so she walked up, grabbed his arm and started dragging him away without ever stopping. The blonde waved comically to the others until they rounded a corner, after which he scurried to his feet and walked along behind the girl.

After they'd gotten to a point where she was fairly certain they wouldn't be overheard, she turned to him, bowing her head slightly. "I'm going to be taking part in a tournament soon, and I'd like you to continue training me, and…" She swallowed the moisture in her mouth, took a deep breath, and continued. "I'd like you to accompany me."

Naruto blinked owlishly. "Are you asking me out?"

Her head shot up, her cheeks sporting a light blush. "No, not at all! I'd just like for you to be there, and see me put everything I've learned from you to good use."

Naruto chuckled. "Okay, it's a not-date, then. I'll be there."

Try as she might, she couldn't keep all of the red tinting from her cheeks. "Okay then… well, I've already cleared the district, so all that's left is the regionals and the finals. We're leaving in two days, so we'll pick you up at Ichigo's then."

"Just enough time to pack everything I own… about enough to fill half a duffel bag…" The blonde mused.

"Fine!" Tatsuki yelled. "Then we'll go shopping while we're there, too!"

Naruto couldn't help but blink in mild confusion at her words. "Uhhm, sure… just didn't think you were the 'shopping' kind of girl…"

She huffed playfully in response. "I'll have you know that I know on good authority that _everyone_ likes buying things. Most girls just like it a little too much." She shrugged. "I mean, I've only got four pairs of shoes…"

Naruto couldn't hold back a snicker. "Four?"

She replied with a punch to his shoulder. "I've got a use for all of them!"

Naruto chuckled, but he left it at that. The two were well aware that they were probably being watched, especially with that exit they made. Rukia and Orihime stood right beside the corner, one giving a wistful sigh at how the two looked like young lovers, and the other inwardly cheering for her best friend.

--

"So, you're all _sure_ you can't come to the beach with me?" Keigo whined.

"I told you already, I'm going to join the kendo club next year, and I need to train along with my studies." Ichigo answered; one of the many viable explanations for his absence to train given to him by a certain blonde.

Mizuiro, arguably Keigo's best friend, pointed to the mask and breathing tube he'd brought out earlier. "Snorkeling…"

"Visiting relatives…" Sado said, nodding to himself.

"Me too! What a coincidence that both of us would have a cousin moving to the same area, huh, Sado-kun?" Orihime chimed as she returned with Rukia.

"Really?" Keigo asked conspiratorially. "So what're their _names_ then?"

Without missing a beat, Sado answered. "Yoruichi…"

Everyone eyed Orihime, who was silent for a moment. "Yoru…ichi…?" She mumbled.

The entire group grew silent at this, uncaring that there were several people who hadn't given an explanation for their reasons not to attend Keigo's beach trip. Thinking quickly, Orihime giggled. "AMAZING! I guess we're really cousins, huh Sado-kun?" She asked, hugging the giant.

A solid 'un' was her response.

Keigo finally noticed a tuft of bright blonde coming towards them. "ASHI-KUN! Surely you'll join me in a trip to the beach!" He plead, masking it as a statement.

Naruto paused for a moment, inwardly wondering how his name ever wound up 'evil'… '_maybe it was all those pranks?'_ he mused. "Sorry, I've got a date with Tats-"

The girl in question punched his arm. Hard. "_NOT A DATE!_" She yelled. "He's my coach for the High School Judo competition, that's all." She added with a huff.

"It sounds like a date to me…" Keigo muttered, earning himself a smack from Rukia, who received a grateful look from Tatsuki.

"She says it's not a date, so it's not a date." Naruto shrugged. "Besides, it's not for a couple days. Then again, we couldn't hit the beach and be back in two days, huh?" He took to cradling his jaw in one hand, while holding his elbow with the other. A classic 'thinking' pose. "We could always go after we get back, right?"

He was met with a round of nods. "You just want to see Tatsuki in a bathing suit…" Rukia muttered darkly.

The blonde just poked her forehead. "I bet you'd look pretty damn cute, too." In the end, both of the girls he was closest to wound up blushing, while he smiled brightly. "Besides, I'm sure you could use this time to catch Ichigo up to me, ne?" It was no secret that the blonde had progressed further in their Kido training.

"That's true…" The shorter girl muttered, before groaning as Naruto ruffled her hair.

"Y'see? It all works out." He said, beaming like the sun… it was just so hard to stay mad at him. "Well, I'm off, Tatsuki, you coming? I figured we'd get in a few spars before you had to head home…"

The tomboy's cheeks tinged pink, and she nodded. "Okay. Are you coming, Orihime?"

Inoue shook her head. "I'm heading off with Sado-kun, remember?"

Tatsuki nodded. "Well, I'll call you later, okay?" She turned back, noticing the blonde was already half a block away, and still walking. She started jogging behind him, waving back at Orihime.

"Well, that was odd. Ichigo, let's go." Rukia said with a small sigh. The aforementioned boy nodded, and they were on their way.

"Well, Sado-kun, let's go find Yoruichi-san…" Orihime said, and she too received a nod.

Keigo glanced around. Even the other girls had left already. It was just him and Mizuiro. "Well, aren't you going too, traitor?" He grumbled.

"I don't leave until tomorrow." The other boy shrugged. "We can still hang out until then."

Keigo cried for joy, and the two made their way to find something to do.

--

The days passed quickly, for the most part, Rukia avoided Naruto as much as she could, and Ichigo had little reason to be around the blonde. Naruto's time was mostly taken up by Tatsuki and their last-minute training, as well as introducing him to the others in her Judo club.

To say they were impressed with Naruto would be an understatement. He'd sparred with, and floored, every single member of the club, including the faculty representative and coach. He openly refused every attempt they made to have him join as a last minute addition to the boy's division. He was only there for Tatsuki.

When it'd finally come time to leave, every Kurosaki living at the clinic, along with Rukia, were there to see him off. Short goodbyes were exchanged, until he came to Rukia at the end of the line, to whom he gave a simple peck on the cheek before dashing away into his and Tatsuki's ride to the meet.

Rukia was shocked, to say the least, but that was obviously what the blonde was after. A flashy exit. She resented being used like that, but couldn't stay angry at him. She silently promised herself to smack him over the head upon his return, but left it at that.

Naruto, for the most part, thought he did rather well playing the part of Tatsuki's cheerleader over the first week of the tournament, and then the winners were moved _again_ to where the final fights were taking place. After all, there happened to be a _lot_ of High Schools in Japan…

After she'd made it into the top eight, Tatsuki pulled Naruto aside for a moment. "Arashi… is there, I mean, that is… you and Rukia…" She took a deep breath. "Is there anything between you two?"

The blonde's eyes widened, and then he sighed. Taking a moment to think about it, he answered. "No. At the moment, there isn't anything between me and Rukia-chan…"

She'd looked almost relieved when he'd said that, to his slight confusion.

It wasn't until just after the fight that placed her into the top four that anything else out of the ordinary happened…

"I'm heading to the store. You wanna' come along, Arashi-kun?" Tatsuki asked.

The blonde shrugged, having nothing better to do, and followed. They were chatting and laughing all along the way, until Tatsuki started walking backward, seemingly in deep thought while she tossed glances at the blonde. His eyes widened when she stepped off the sidewalk.

"_Tsuki-chan!_" He cried out, her eyes widening as he dashed towards her. He placed his palm between her breasts, unthinking of the implications of it, and pushed her through the air all the way to the other side of the street.

She'd recovered just in time to see Naruto, still in midair, struck full-bore by a car.

"Arashi-kun!" She cried.

Naruto, having been nearly parallel to the ground in his dash, and still in the air after pushing Tatsuki, was sent flying, before rolling along the ground for nearly half a block.

Tatsuki was at his side in a matter of seconds, turning him over and lightly shaking him. "Please be okay! I'm sorry, just wake up!"

The middle-aged couple in the car also came to his side. "Is your boyfriend okay?" The woman asked.

Tatsuki, too distraught to deny her claims of their relationship, turned to her with tear-filled eyes. "He just got hit by a fucking _car_, of course he's not okay!" She turned back to the blonde. "Arashi-kun, Arashi, wake up!"

"Ta… tsuki-chan…" Naruto grumbled, coughing. "Not so loud."

"You're okay!" The girl cried, crushing him into her bosom.

A few cries of pain let her know that he wasn't _quite_ okay… "That hurts, let go…" He mumbled.

"What's wrong?" The man said, finally getting a word in.

"Couple broken ribs, I think…" Naruto muttered, examining himself. "Just a sec…"

Tatsuki's eyes widened as the blonde pushed his fingers into his side, below his ribs, and proceeded to clamp his digits around the affronting misplaced bone and jerk it back into place.

"Dear god…" The man gasped, as his wife turned away after she began to retch at the sight.

"A…Arashi-kun?" She asked, watching as his face softened from a hardened grimace to a discomforted frown as, unbeknownst to her, the demon within him knit the bones and cartilage back into place.

They were far from completely healed, but it was enough for now. "Hey, Tsuki… I like it. Can I call you that from now on?" He mused.

She couldn't help but giggle at his nonchalance at the moment. "Sure thing, Yoko…"

Naruto's eyes widened when the word left her mouth. "How… what did you call me…?" He asked, barely a whisper.

"'Youkou'… sunshine." She repeated, before poking his nose. "But you're also foxy, so Yoko."

Naruto was dumbstruck by her words, while the two adults were watching, thinking back on the joys of young love. "Are you okay to move? We should get you to the hospital…" The man said.

"Nah, I'm fine…" Naruto countered, standing up with a groan before dusting himself off. "I'mpretty sure your car took more of a beating than me…"

"No, of course not, but if you're sure you're fine…" The woman started. She was lying, as the front grill of the car would most likely need to be replaced, but it wasn't the most expensive of car parts, so the couple were more worried about the boy they'd struck.

"Why were you going so fast, anyway?" Tatsuki asked, somewhat agitated.

The man huffed slightly. "We were going the speed limit, and had the right of way, when _you _started walking out into the road."

Tatsuki was right to look somewhat embarrassed, until Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "It's fine, Tsuki-chan. No real harm done. If you like, I'll have the medics back at the meet take a look at me when we get back."

The girl smiled back at him. "Okay then… Let's go."

Naruto's eyebrow raised slightly at that. "Didn't you want to go to the store? It's right down that way…"

She smacked him lightly in the shoulder. "Idiot, your health is more important!"

He could only chuckle and let her have her way, as the older couple offered to give them a ride to wherever they were going, in order to ease the blonde's journey, and keep from agitating his wound.

--

After the blonde's ribs had been bound to keep them in place, even though Naruto knew it wasn't necessary, and the smaller scratches he and Tatsuki had incurred during the times they'd struck the ground were properly cleaned and bandaged, the girl went on to decimate her opponent in the semifinals.

The next day, Tatsuki ended the fight in the finals with a record time for such a fight, with a reishi-infused blow to her opponent's solar plexus. The other girl wasn't able to stand, let alone fight, for the rest of the day. Thus, the match was awarded to Tatsuki. Upon winning, and being dubbed the champion, Naruto rushed up to congratulate the girl. But rather than what he'd expected to happen, she enveloped him in a hug, and pressed her lips to his.

The blonde was shocked into a stupor at this. "Tsuki-chan?" He asked silently, wanting an explanation for her actions that he could understand at the moment.

"Thank you for everything, Yoko-kun… if… if you want that date, we could do something when we get back to Karakura…" She offered hopefully.

Naruto stared into her eyes for the longest time, before lightly shaking his head. "I… there's things about me you don't know, Tsuki-chan… I'm not the kind of guy you can just _date _with no strings attached… Please, let's talk later, and if you still want to, then maybe."

She was confused and surprised by his answer, but it wasn't an outright rejection, right? So, she continued on as the 'champion' as Naruto slinked away, even though she didn't smile for the rest of the day.

--

The night before they'd leave for home, Naruto and Tatsuki walked to a local park, where they could see what few stars were out, next to the bright city lights. The blonde stared sadly at the girl, while her eyes were fixed firmly on the sky. Both waiting for the other to speak… eventually, Tatsuki broke the silence.

"I like you, Arashi… I think… I could love you." She never took her eyes off the sky.

The blonde sighed. "You want the truth… why I think you might not want to be with me." She nodded, even though she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Then, the first think you should know is, my name isn't Arashi."

He could have sworn he heard her neck pop as her eyes turned on him, wide as saucers. "What do you mean?" She asked silently.

"The name I was born with… was Uzumaki Naruto." If it was possible, her eyes widened further.

"Then… Rukia…"

"Knows everything." He answered before she could ask, nodding along with his words. "She's the only one who knows everything… but after tonight, you will too. Okay?" She nodded, which he took as his cue to continue, but he stopped. It took a moment, but he looked up, just as she had before, and chuckled… then he laughed, and then continued on for a good minute before it was out of his system. "You know…" He said with his last few giggles. "I'm not even from your _world_…"

"W-what?" She asked, startled.

"If you promise to let me finish before you speak, and understand that I can only tell you _my_ secrets… I'll keep going."

She nodded. "I promise… just please, tell me…"

Naruto took a deep breath. "I'm apparently from what _used_ to be 'heaven' before corrupt spirits fucked it up, and it wound up being turned into another 'human' world. As far as I can tell, there are only three worlds, mine, yours, and the spirit world between them. You following so far?" A nod was his reply. "In my world, access to spiritual powers comes much easier than here. I don't know why, but I think it has to do with evolving from bastardized 'angel' things while your kind were always human… if I've got the theology right… anyway, my home village… I guess you'd call it a city… was attacked by a demon about sixteen years ago. In order to stop it, my father sealed it away, turning me into a living cage for it. That demon was the Kyuubi no Yoko."

"Y-Yoko…?" She stuttered. "Oh god… I didn't know…"

"Hey, no interruptions…" He chimed playfully. "and I know you didn't know. I don't blame you. Hell, I _agree_ with you, I _do_ look a little foxy…" He gave a sad chuckle before he continued. "As I was saying… dad died sealing it, and mom… well, she's dead too. I've had to grow up on my own, putting up with all the hate, rage, and abuse the village had for the only thing left that had anything to do with the fox… me." Naruto took a moment, and sighed. "I'm sugar-coating it as much as I can without actually lying to you again… but let's just say that I wouldn't wish my childhood on… you know what, screw that, I _do_ have a couple people I'd wish it on, but just because they're some of the most vile, despicable, and _evil_ things to ever _belong_ in hell… but that list is pretty damn short… now that I think about it, 'Hell' might be a fourth world, but I have no idea where it is, and I really wouldn't like to know…" The blonde took a moment to center his thoughts, wondering what else would be relevant at the moment. "I changed my energy type from Chakra to Reishi… wound up assaulted by Hollows, that is, corrupted spirits I think is the term… and then got myself stuck in that middle-world. I found my dad, and put a sword through his gut for sealing the fox in mine, and had to run for it. But apparently, I picked the wrong door, and wound up in your world instead of mine… That was the time you found me, remember?"

There was no way she could forget finding a half-dead bloodied blonde on the side of the road… "Yeah, I remember…"

"Well, then I met Rukia, and she's helped me a bit, and convinced Ichigo to help too. Now I'm pretty much a fugitive from two worlds, and I don't want to get you killed in the crossfire when someone shows up, which will undoubtedly happen… I'm guessing less than a year." Naruto redid his calculations in his head. "Yeah. Way less than a year, depending on how determined Tsunade is to find me…"

"Tsunade?" Tatsuki asked. Having an unknown name thrown into the whirlpool of chaotic thoughts her mind was currently didn't help in the slightest.

"The leader of my village, and the person I got the fighting style I've been teaching you from."

"Ahh…" It didn't help much, but that was _one_ explanation down… "Why did Rukia help you? Why did you tell her all about yourself?"

Naruto's eyes darkened. "I told you before… I can tell you my secrets, but not hers. If you want to know those, you should ask her."

Tatsuki nodded. She knew that was probably all she was going to get out of him at this point… "Ara… Naruto…" Their eyes met for a brief moment, before he glanced downward. "Why don't you want to go out with me?" He looked back up at her in confusion with soft, widened eyes. She smiled to him. "Nothing you said… gives any reason we can't be together."

Naruto smiled sadly. "I gave up on finding love a long time ago…" A tear fell from his eye. "I think I'm just afraid of committing that much affection to a person, and risk losing them…"

Tatsuki couldn't help but slowly make her way toward him, wrapping her arms around him, and holding him close to her. "Naruto, everyone is afraid of that. You, me, everyone… but you can't let that stop you…"

"I've killed people, Tatsuki…" He said, barely a whisper.

She froze. What could he be talking about? He couldn't possibly _kill_ people… right?

"Back home… my village… was a shinobi village. That's what I am. A mercenary, a weapon, an assassin… whatever the village needed me to be." He pushed her back, and held her at arm's length. "Could you love a killer?"

She could see his eyes were full of tears now. He was afraid of reaching out, of being rejected… he was afraid of himself and his own secrets as much as he was of her rejecting him for them… she did the only thing she could think of to reassure him. She kissed him.

This time, he accepted the kiss, and returned it. They both melted into it, softly cradling the other in their arms. It was a long moment before they parted, staring into each other's eyes. Naruto couldn't help but feel tears welling up again. "I… I don't want to lose you."

She nuzzled into his chest. "You won't, Naruto-kun. I promise. I'll always be here for you. I'll always be wherever you are."

"P-promise…?" Naruto asked. She was willing to say that, with such assurance? Was she certain she could always be by his side, no matter the danger?

She smiled, meeting his deep sapphire with her bright granite, and nodding. "I promise, Naruto-kun. I'll never leave you."

Tatsuki leaned forward to kiss him again, but he held her back. "I… have feelings for Rukia." She blinked in response, but his smile set her at ease. "I just thought you'd like to know… even though I might have some romantic feelings for her… she's my best friend. You're my _girlfriend._"

Upon hearing this, she tackled him to the ground in joy, and proceeded to kiss him again.

--

Naruto wound up having a stern talking-to from Tatsuki's father, which the girl assured him was a normal step in courting any girl. One point he was adamant about was his daughter's 'purity' …it didn't help at all when Naruto told him his daughter was just as 'pure' as the day they met…

On the other hand, her mother seemed to take a liking to him.

By the time they'd made it back to Karakura, Naruto was certain Tatsuki's father would neuter him with a dull spoon within a year, and her mother… well, he had no idea what she'd do, he'd had so little experience with people being _nice_ to him…

They still knew him as 'Arashi' though, after he'd explained to Tatsuki why he didn't like being called by his name.

--

"So, how'd things go with Tatsuki?" Rukia asked when the blonde stepped through the door into the Kurosaki clinic.

Naruto paused for a moment before answering. "She kissed me."

Rukia froze. They _kissed_? Well… _she_ kissed _him_… "And?" She asked tentatively.

"I kissed her. There's a festival in a couple days, and we're going together." He calmly explained.

She couldn't help but collapse back onto the nearby couch. They didn't just kiss, they were _dating_. She held a hand up to her chest, feeling a sharp ache. "So, that's that, huh?" She asked after calming her nerves.

"Yeah… me and Tatsuki." He answered solemnly.

She nodded, standing up from her seat. "I'm happy for you."

Naruto watched silently as she trudged dejectedly back to her room. "No, you're not…" He muttered sadly.

Soon, soft sobs could be heard from the girls' room.

--

Naruto didn't see much of Rukia after that, but when he did, she was at least on speaking terms with him. The blonde knew she needed her space at the moment, so while she trained Ichigo, he left to the library to further his understanding of this world.

Tatsuki spent her time catching up with Orihime, chatting about their respective outings away from the others. Tatsuki telling the other about the tournament, how Naruto saved her, and the details of their budding relations; everything short of the blonde's secrets, of course. Orihime relayed tales of herself, Sado, and their peculiar cousin… who sounded from her descriptions to be a rather short black boy who happened to be unusually fuzzy and had a penchant for neko cosplay.

Tatsuki had long ago learned to disregard comprehension with many of Orihime's descriptions.

The two met up at the park they used for training on the morning of the festival, as they'd agreed before even returning to Karakura. Both had chosen to forgo 'traditional' wear, because she didn't feel like it, and he didn't even know _how_ to dress as such. They wanted to spend the day together, until they'd meet up after lunch with Orihime, Ichigo, and everyone. And so, they'd gone out to breakfast, made their way through the local mall, which she was surprised he hadn't been to yet, and eventually found a nice restaurant for lunch, promising to do the same for dinner, to make in an 'official' date.

Naruto and Tatsuki made their way along the river, chatting amicably until they heard a familiar voice call their names, and made their way over to Ichigo, Rukia, and Orihime, who'd been the one to call them.

"Oi, fruitcake, you actually here _with_ one of these beauties, or did they just drag you along?" The blonde asked playfully.

Ichigo scoffed, but still couldn't help but smile. "Orihime dropped in around breakfast, and started ranting about how we had to be here before you, bastard…"

Tatsuki pulled Orihime aside for a moment. "So you haven't asked him out yet?" She whispered.

Orihime shook her head sadly, to the exasperation of her best friend. They'd agreed that since one had wound up with her man already, it was about time that the other made her move on the guy she liked, too. But, sighing, the tomboy just patted the other girl's shoulder with an intonation of 'there's always next time'.

Sado was the next to arrive with the newest addition to Ichigo's little group; Ishida. Their silent natures seemed to have endeared the two to each other as much as Ichigo and Naruto. They were quite the quartet. Of course, not to be left out of anything, Keigo burst from thin air, attempting to tackle Ichigo, only to meet the boy's foot with his face… Mizuiro wasn't far behind, sporting a new dark tan.

While the lot were talking and joking, Naruto's senses perked up, and he grew silent, looking over the water. This prompted the others to grow silent as well, wondering what he was looking at, when the blonde began to chuckle darkly. With a sigh, he pinched his brow. "I was hoping we could forgo this confrontation for a while…"

With silence as his answer, he chuckled again. Even if they made no sound to the ears of anyone but him, his senses were far too keen to miss the sound of soft feet striking the ground. Several feet. He'd know their presence and pattern anywhere…

Turning, he greeted his pursuers. "It's been a while… Hokage-sama."

* * *

WOW… I did _NOT_ mean to have Naruto and Tatsuki dating this early on, but it just… _happened_. …mneh, I can work with it. XD

And yes, I left the description of Tatsuki's parents out because they haven't been revealed in the manga yet. (And may never be)

If none of you get that 'nin-nin' joke, I've seen in several manga, anime, and video games where characters pretending to be ninja will say "Nin Nin"… I'm assuming both Naruto and Rukia have seen these sorts of references.

For the record, Tatsuki's shoes are as follows: Her normal sneakers that she wears around town, the shoes that came with her school uniform, her gym shoes (track cleats) and a pair of 'work shoes' just in case she has something to do and doesn't want to dirty up her other shoes. (Or such is the excuse, as she just hasn't thrown them out yet)

As for the whole 'Naruto pulling his ribs back into place' thing, seriously… I've tried it _myself_, and I can push my fingers into my side a good few inches before it starts hurting too much. I can _almost_ put my hands around my lowest ribs on either side. I'd imagine someone with shinobi training and a massive pain like dislocated/broken ribs to dull the lesser pain of pushing his hands in that far, would be able to do it. Naruto, in this fic, has every kind of experience with pain. A little more doesn't bother him much, and all he needed to do was put it back in place for Kyuubi to heal it.

Honestly? I brought the nightmare about his mother in a little earlier than I expected to, but really, right when I wanted to. It was intended to be the start of this chapter, before I changed the context of it to more Naruto/Tatsuki stuff; but it was supposed to be the start of the chapter in which Naruto is confronted by the Konoha-nin, and his dark past is (mostly) revealed… In other words, next chapter.

A little confusing, that… and yes, I'm going to be explaining things again. Hopefully, I'll only have to do it twice.

HOKAY! Looking it up in the translator I use, 'Youkou' means 'sunshine' or 'sunlight' which matches his hair and disposition (some of the time) but it also has to do with foxy-ness. (everyone in the Naruto-fic business thinks that 'Yoko' means 'demon fox' but it doesn't. It means '_spirit_ fox'. It's all in the disposition of the spirit itself whether or not it's a 'demon' like Kyuubi, or a kami, like Inari)

((Again, the term 'Kami' may not even be correct in this instance, since that indirectly translates to something like 'spirit' which could include the Kyuubi too. The English language has no direct translation for kami, and thus, most media simply use 'god' instead of 'ghost' or 'spirit' which would probably be just as accurate))

I know I'm probably going to be getting a mess of flames because you all probably _think_ you know what 'kami' means, but I know I'm right, and that's all that matters. If you want to talk about gods, then use 'Kami-sama' which is as close as you'll get with the word kami. (Kami-sama translates to something like 'spirit lord' or 'high spirit') My Beta took the time to trace the word back to its roots in Shinto-ism, and I believe him.


	6. Of Quandary and Quagmire

The Harem is confirmed CLOSED at five girls; Rukia, Tatsuki, Hinata, Anko, and Temari. (In order of importance to the plot)

FINALLY, some questions answered! But, unfortunately, even more mysteries to unfold! Kekeke…

Heheheh… it's amazing. In less than an hour, I'd already figured out how to incorporate the new chapter's rule changes into this fic… hell, they made so much sense with it, that it's just plain scary… XD

I said this to my Beta right after I'd read the chapter explaining Sage Arts, and now I'm saying it here…

JIRAIYA WAS A FUCKING QUINCY!! XD

NOW! It'll be a few chapters before I reveal just what I've come up with (Actually, what I'd ALREADY come up with that makes SO much more sense now) given the new chapters, but, rest assured that it'll all make sense eventually.

This fic is officially AU now that I'm screwing with Naruto's sage training, and changing the way Reiatsu works. (My Beta was telling me it was already AU the second I made it a crossover, though… mneh)

* * *

The others spun around at his words, startled to see the large group that'd snuck up on them. Naruto knew each of them…

Tsunade, Yamato, Kakashi, Sakura, Shizune, Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, and surprisingly, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Kurenai and Anko.

"One would think you'd be going to war with so many shinobi… all this just for little ol' me?" The whiskered blonde quipped.

"We've come to bring you home, Naruto." Tsunade said sternly, her arms folded below her breasts.

The man in question scoffed. "I'd love to see you try. That place was _hell _for me. Give me _one_ good reason to go back."

The Hokage narrowed her eyes. "You don't belong here."

"Nor there." Naruto countered. "I don't belong anywhere… but at least people don't mind that I _exist_ here." The older blonde winced slightly at that. "I doubt there's anything you could say that'd possibly convince me to go home."

"N-n-Naruto-kun…" Hinata muttered. "P-please…"

"Yes, Hinata? Speak up, I can't hear you." He said with a coldness that made the girl flinch.

"P-p-p-please…" She started again, walking forward slowly, tears falling from her eyes. "A-a-a-I… I n-need you, N-Naruto-kun… I l-l-lo…"

"You _what_, Hinata?" The blonde growled.

"I.. a-a-I…" The Hyuuga girl fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You what, Hinata?" He asked again, softly this time, but the girl was already broken.

"You heartless bastard…" Kurenai growled. "She _loves_ you!"

Tatsuki felt a pang in her heart when the woman said it, but was broken from her thoughts when her boyfriend began laughing. It was a cold, hollow laugh, as if some cosmic irony had just been thrust before him, and denied as insignificant.

When the blonde grew silent again, his next words shocked everyone there. "You think I didn't know that?"

"_WHAT_!?" The red-eyed woman roared.

"I'm sorry, but what she loved wasn't _me_. I'd explain, but I'm afraid this is neither the time, nor the place for such a discussion." Naruto said, as if chastising a child. "Regardless…" He summoned his blade in a flash of light from the seal on his left arm. "There is no way I'm going back without a fight."

The blonde set himself into a defensive stance, but his view was impaired by two of his peers from Karakura stepping in front of him. "Sado? Inoue?" It only took a moment for his mind to grasp the situation. "Move, you two. Those people are _ninja_, most of them Chuunin or _Jounin._ They'll tear you apart before you can even see them move!"

The both of them just nodded, with Sado silently muttering "I understand."

"No, I don't think you do…" Tsunade mused, before raising a single leg, and bringing it down upon the concrete, shattering it without even putting any chakra into the kick.

Eyes widened behind Naruto, but the two in front of him didn't move.

Tsunade sighed. "If you won't move, then I'll _move you_." She said, before charging forward.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at how slow she was moving. Too fast for an untrained fighter to react, but still more than enough for them to clearly see her actions. Her first target was the large boy… damn the consequences, she'd fix him later. And so, she pulled her fist back, and let fly a chakra-enhanced punch.

Eyes widened on both sides. "H-how…?"

Sado was standing between the two blondes, holding her outstretched fist in his own armored hand; the same red, black and white flowing up from his fingertips to his shoulder.

"That should've shattered his entire arm…" Kakashi mumbled from beneath his ever-present mask.

Naruto's widened eyes narrowed slightly, an amused grin spreading over his features. "That's new… you shouldn't hide things like that if you don't want to be underestimated."

The giant's answer was to groan slightly. "She's strong…"

The blonde boy chuckled. "Yeah, I know." He glanced at Orihime. "I suppose you've been hiding something, too?"

Orihime nodded, holding her hands up to the sides of her head.

Naruto chuckled. "It looks like we're a little more evenly matched than I thought… But still… we're outnumbered and outmatched. It's me they want. You lot should stay out of this."

Ichigo nodded, walking toward the blonde. "Okay th-" He stopped when Rukia slapped him.

"What kind of coward leaves his friend behind!?" She asked.

Ichigo was up and in her face in an instant, glaring at her as their foreheads clashed together. "If you'd just given me a chance to _finish _what I was saying, then maybe we wouldn't be having this _misunderstanding_!" It took him a second to realize that the hand she'd slapped him with had been clad in the odd glove that separated his body and soul, but he shook his head to clear it.

Rukia blinked, watching as her substitute walked up behind Naruto, clapping his hand over the other boy's shoulder. "You're _part_ of 'our lot' now… so get used to it."

Naruto's eyes softened somewhat, and he nodded.

Back in the fight, Tsunade brought her other hand back for a punch, but Sado caught her wrist before she could land the blow. "Arashi…"

"I know, you can't hold her for long…" The blonde answered, taking up his sword, and preparing to slash the woman's back.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled, dashing forward. The blonde smirked before vanishing. Everyone's eyes widened when they realized what had transpired. Sakura looked down at her old teammate in shock and sadness as she gripped his forearm… his hand had already pierced her torso. "Na…ruto…?" She mumbled, a line of blood falling from her lips.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." He said calmly as he raised her up by the left arm that was still embedded in her stomach, and tossing her aside. "You see, I struck your stomach, which would cause the acid to leak out onto your other organs… a very unpleasant way to die, but I trust you'll survive. In fact, I'm counting on it. It's not a wound you can heal yourself, though. We don't have a medic, you see, and I couldn't let Shizune fight, with all the poisons she uses."

Everyone took in the situation, shocked at his planning… especially Shizune, who was already at Sakura's side, trying to patch up the hole in her fellow apprentice. "Naruto… you've gotten smarter…" Shikamaru blandly remarked.

The blonde smirked. "I didn't get smarter… I stopped being stupid." He let that statement fester in their minds while he returned to his place between Sado and Orihime just as the elder blonde broke free from the giant's grip.

"Naruto… what's happened to you…?" The Hokage asked once she was back in front of her subordinates.

The boy blinked in surprise. "Jiraiya didn't tell you? Well that's odd… he said that was the first thing he'd planned on doing… I'd asked him not to, but I figured he'd tell you anyway." He took on a contemplative pose while a look of confusion spread to the others. "Fine, then." He took up a defensive stance. "Tsunade, I'll make a bet with you. You and me, fighting one-on-one… I win, you call off the hostilities, and I'll tell you everything."

"And if I win?" She asked.

The malicious smirk on his lips was enough to make her cringe. "You won't… but if you did, then I'd be too weak to fight off anyone else, and it'd be that much easier to capture me."

She chuckled. "Fine, then. I accept. But, you _do_ know that your Ninjutsu won't work without chakra, right?"

The other blonde smiled. "I'm sure there's a trick to it, and I just haven't figured it out, yet."

'_He's still as weak as a Chuunin without his Ninjutsu…_' Tsunade thought as she charged, again slower than full speed, but then again, she'd never shown Naruto her full speed, so it'd be best to keep him underestimating her.

But then he pointed his finger at her, and smiled. "Hado no Ichi… Shou."

Tsunade's charge was abruptly cut short as she was flung back through the air. In her surprise, she couldn't counter before Naruto flashed to her side and swung his sword, smashing the blunt edge of the back of his sword into her right side.

The Godaime was flung sprawling to the ground, with more than half of her ribs on one side either cracked or broken. A crippling blow, dealt in the first five seconds of combat. "H-how… no, you've always been full of surprises…" She muttered, chuckling sadly. "You win."

Naruto stood between the ninja and his friends from Karakura. "So, now I guess this is where you lot try to take me in… but I'm not going to go peacefully." He muttered as a red sheen glistened over his skin and clothing, before a single, blood red ethereal tail sprouted from the base of his spine.

"Naruto, stop, you can't control it!" Sakura called, trying to raise herself, only to be pushed back down by Shizune, who was still trying to stitch her wound closed.

The blonde boy scoffed. "Just because that _idiot_ couldn't do it, it doesn't mean I can't." He growled.

"YAMATO!" Tsunade yelled, and the ANBU captain sped through seals, forgoing to name the Ninjutsu as dozens of wooden totems erupted from the ground, seeking to bite down onto the blonde and drain the demonic energy away.

They managed to reach about a meter from the blonde before a flash of white smashed through each of them in turn, splintering and destroying them. Naruto glanced in the direction they originated from, and saw the Quincy boy lightly holding his Reishi bow, pushing his glasses further up his nose haughtily with a look that said '_You can thank me later._'

The blonde nodded to him, before turning back to the group of ninja. "Just face it. You can't beat me…" A second tail formed. "You'll _never_ beat me…" A third… "I'd rather _die_ than go back to that place…" Four… "You can't break me…" Five… "And you'll never take me back there!" A sixth tail never appeared. There was no tearing of his skin or flesh… no mindless slaughter, no loss of control… his eyes glowed a feral red, his fingernails lengthened into claws, and his whiskers had become jagged and pronounced, but that was it. He was hunched slightly, and breathing heavily, but there was no other sign that he was having any trouble keeping the Kyuubi from controlling him.

He was obviously holding back his Reiatsu, otherwise they'd all have been crushed by now. Everyone felt the weight, and few of them could breathe easily, but none of them were terribly affected by it. For a moment, he looked not unlike a feral god that could never die…

And then a line of blood ran down from his lips.

He began to breath more heavily, and blood began to drip from both his nostrils. Once this had begun, the red energy receded from his body, and from his widening eyes, it hadn't been his doing.

'_FOX! What's wrong, what're you doing!?' _He roared into his mind.

"_**Any more, and you would die. I happen to like living, you insignificant little bastard, so don't go thinking I'm going to let my own death be MY fault!"**_ The fox roared back. _**"This energy affects you differently, even though you may feel fine, that much was nearly enough to kill you. I'll expect my due thanks later, blonde gnat."**_

Naruto fell to the ground, only barely able to hold himself up as he crouched down, coughing up a veritable waterfall of blood. Tatsuki was at his side instantly, holding him as he began to pale before their eyes, and tremble uncontrollably. She rocked him in her arms, once he'd stopped coughing, and held him as close to her body as she could.

Shizune, who'd just finished stabilizing Sakura, rushed over to the boy. Tatsuki immediately pulled him away protectively. "Don't worry, I just want to help him, please…" The medic pleaded, her calm voice finally breaking through to the girl.

Keigo and Mizuiro stood back, simply trying to process everything they'd just seen as Rukia held them from running away… not that they could, even if she didn't. Ichigo stood over Naruto protectively as Shizune worked on him, as if a promise that if she so much as twitched wrong, he'd take her head off. Tatsuki, even if it was in the boy's best interest, still couldn't let go of him, and so he laid with his head resting on her bosom while her arms held his waist, giving Shizune enough room to check his torso.

"He's suffering from severe internal damage… I've managed to stop it, and his natural healing has begun to reverse the effects… He's stable right now, but there's not much more I can do for him out here." Shizune explained. The boy looked horrible… even his eyes had begun to bleed as she'd worked on him, flowing down his cheeks like red tears. "The best place for him right now is Konoha. We have everything we need to save him there."

Naruto groaned as he regained consciousness. "No… not… going back…" He mumbled.

Shizune was startled when she saw someone else crawling over so sit beside Naruto… who, after recovering from her shock, she recognized as Hinata. "Naruto-kun…" She muttered, leaning close over him. "A-are you sure… th-that's what you want?"

The blonde nodded.

The Hyuuga girl nodded sadly. "I understand…" And to everyone's shock, she put her hand to Shizune's chest, and with a show of monstrous strength for a girl her size, shoved the medic all the way back into the group of Konoha ninja, where she was caught by Sai and Kakashi. There were many cries of indignation and confusion before Hinata fell into her Jyuuken stance, between them and Naruto. "H-h-he w-wants to s-stay… and a-I want wh-whatever n-Naruto-kun wants…"

"Hinata…" Kurenai mumbled softly in surprise, as her other two students walked up to meet her.

The girl's stance tightened when her friends came within striking distance. "Hinata…" Shino said, in an eerily soft tone even coming from him. "Are you certain this is what you want?" The girl nodded, and Shino sighed… before stepping up beside her, and turning back and facing his comrades from Konoha, Kiba and Akamaru mirroring him on Hinata's other side.

"Sh-Shino-kun… k-Kiba-kun…?" She asked, her face clearly displaying her surprise.

"Hey, we're a team, aren't we?" Kiba asked cheerfully.

"Me too, me too!" The yell came from within the group of Konoha ninja, who were all shocked to be thrown aside as Anko made her way through them to stand just behind Hinata and Kiba.

"Anko…" Tsunade growled, mostly in pain from having just set her ribs with chakra. "I can understand Hinata, and teamwork is one of the most fundamental teachings of Konoha… but what reason could _you_ possibly have for insubordination? You realize you can be court-martialed for this, right?"

The glare that the Tokubetsu-Jounin set toward her Hokage sent chills down everyone's spines. "I _OWE_ him, Hokage-sama." The words themselves weren't _too_ surprising, no one knew what kind of debt she could have towards the Jinchuuriki, but the way she'd said it made it seem as if repaying this debt was more important than her life…

"How do you owe me anything?" The blonde boy groaned in confusion.

She turned her head back to him for a moment. "I'll explain later, brat…" She'd moved in an instant, showing the speed Naruto had warned everyone of earlier, to put a kunai to the neck of the Kazekage as he appeared in a flurry of sand.

He looked as if he didn't even register the blade against his throat as he knelt next to Naruto. "You are… happy here…?" He asked.

Naruto chuckled, but just wound up coughing up some of the blood that'd begun clotting in his throat. "Yes, Gaara… I'm very happy here."

"I see…" He stood, turning back to the other ninja as his siblings sped to his side. "That is all I'd wished to confirm, Hokage-sama. I hope you understand, but I cannot side with you in this matter."

Tsunade blinked owlishly, before glaring. "What do you mean!?"

"Uzumaki Naruto… was my first friend." Gaara stated simply. "To me, his continuing to live a contented lifestyle is paramount over the completion of your mission… again, my apologies."

There was much grumbling heard from within the group of Konoha-nin, but all of that was drowned out by a long sigh, and the others looked on in confusion as Kakashi walked over to his blonde student. "Any reason I'm going to wind up court-martialed, Naruto?"

The blonde blinked somewhat, before pointing up to the girl holding him. "I've got a cute girlfriend here…?" Tatsuki couldn't help but blush.

Kakashi gained a confused look in the visible portion of his face, before looking the girl over, and groaning. "That _is_ a pretty good reason… damn." He glanced at both sides. "A least we're a little more even, now…"

With Sakura and Tsunade injured, and Kurenai having strict orders to stay out of all of the fighting for the sake of her baby, both sides were almost evenly matched now. Both sides staring the other down for what seemed like an eternity…

"_DYNAMIC ENTRY!!_"

--

(Approximately two hours earlier)

"_YOSHA! Now we shall find Naruto-kun, and return him to his rightful home alongside our fellows!" Lee cheered as soon as the group had been led through the Senkaimon by their Shinigami escorts, who would remain by the gate._

"_I CONCUR LEE! Now all we need to do is find someone who has seen him recently!"_

"_YOSH!" His clone shouted, and the two were off._

"…_Those two have no idea where to go, do they?" Tenten mumbled._

"_No… now, the advisory from this 'Twelfth Division' said his signature was due west…" Neji replied._

--

But the green blur flying through the crowd wasn't Gai or Lee… and it didn't have a bowl cut… yet. It happened to be a man who looked surprisingly similar to the deceased Sarutobi Asuma, and had just crashed into Ichigo. In the chaos, no one seemed to care that he'd just managed to kick a Shinigami.

"FLAWLESS FORM KUROSAKI-SAN!" Lee yelled.

"Yosha! Truly magnificent!" Gai concurred, ignoring the girls dressed in festival kimono under each arm, one of which was yelling about how the two green beasts had corrupted their father.

"D-dad!?" Ichigo yelled as he made it back to his body. "What the hell are you doing here? And what the fuck are you wearing!?"

To his progeny's dismay, Kurosaki Isshin was standing proudly between the two hostile groups, wearing a green spandex suit, matching Gai and Lee. "It is a symbol of his youthfulness!" The younger yelled, gaining nods of agreement from the other.

"Yeah… we're burning that when we get home, dad." Ichigo stated.

"You can't hide it from me!" Yuzu added. "I do the laundry!"

"Then I simply won't wash it!" Her father replied, causing everyone there, even Gai and Lee, to cringe… those things _stink_ after a week if you don't wash them… they'd both learned that early on in their respective times wearing them, during long missions…

"Perhaps we made a mistake, Gai-sensei…" Lee whispered to the elder green beast.

Gai nodded. "I fear that Kurosaki-san cannot control his own youthful enthusiasm…"

When the two looked up to where Isshin was, they saw only air. Worried, they glanced about until they found him scrutinizing Kurenai's form. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

The woman was shocked. Sure, without the Genjutsu she had cast, anyone who'd seen her would've known that… but unless he could see through it, her figure should've perfectly matched that before Asuma had died. "H-how did you know?" She asked.

Isshin gave her a wide grin. "Because you're positively _glowing_!" He said, executing a perfect 'good guy pose' …how he got his teeth to sparkle like theirs on such short notice, no one wanted to know. "And I recognize it from when my wife had our first born, Ichigo." He said, grabbing the boy by the scruff of his neck as if to show him off.

The man was brought out of his musings when he heard Naruto coughing up more blood. "Ah, but this isn't the time for such things, I think we should get the boy back to my clinic. It has medical facilities, and you all won't look quite as suspicious there as you would in a hospital." He said, unceremoniously tossing the blonde boy over his shoulder and thrusting his free fist into the air exuberantly "Let's go!"

--

The groups had returned to the Kurosaki home and clinic, spread out throughout the building as the waiting area wasn't large enough to accommodate even a quarter of their number as the medics and doctor, along with their apprentices and assistants worked on the blonde.

"You're worried about him, huh?" Tatsuki asked as she sat down beside a despondent Rukia.

The Shinigami girl scoffed. "Obviously not as much as his _girlfriend_ is…"

Tatsuki took offense to that, and was about to retort when she heard a muttering from across the room.

"Why did he pick you…?" It was Hinata, still coming to terms with her own feelings on what'd transpired. "Why… when…"

"When he could've had Konoha's troublesome 'princess'…?" Shikamaru asked under his breath as he leaned against the wall next to Hinata's bench. There were four in total, the one holding Rukia and Tatsuki, the one upon which sat Hinata, another that had the Kazekage and his sister, and upon the last lay Anko sprawled upon it.

Opposite Shikamaru, between the other two benches, stood Orihime… "Amazing… so Hinata-chan is a princess?"

The Hyuuga girl visibly flinched, but said nothing.

"The first daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the prestigious Hyuuga clan, which is currently the largest and most influential in our village…" Shikamaru explained.

Orihime made a sound of understanding as the door opened, and a weary Tsunade stepped out.

Surprisingly, it was Anko that made it to her first. "So, he's fine right? Nothing's wrong?" The purple-haired woman asked, worry flooding over every word.

The Hokage smiled, rubbing her subordinate's hair playfully. "He's fine. He wasn't in any danger of dying in the first place, but it would've been a much longer and more painful recovery if he hadn't been treated." The entire room let out a sigh of relief. "If he'd held onto the power he'd tapped into another five seconds, I doubt anything would've saved him, though…"

"So we can see him?" Tatsuki jumped at the older woman's pause to add her own question.

The blonde woman nodded. "He's awake, but I don't think we should be pressuring him now…"

The young woman had already pushed past into the room occupied by Naruto on the medical bed, along with Shizune and Isshin discussing the procedures in one corner of the room, and the man's two daughters packing up and setting aside equipment to be sterilized. Tatsuki paid mind to none of the others as she immediately jumped atop the blonde boy, thrusting her tongue into his mouth.

…and pull away spitting and coughing.

"I've been coughing up _blood_ for the past hour. What do you _think_ was going to be in my mouth? Spit?" Naruto quipped, thoroughly amused by her reaction.

"Fuck you, Yoko…" She managed between spitting flurries.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure we're a little young for that…" He added weakly, causing her to blush.

"It's nice to know you're feeling better, Naruto…" Tsunade said cheerfully as she walked in, followed by everyone who'd been in the waiting room.

"Hey, Tsunade… I'd like to talk to one of the toads. You think you can manage that?" Naruto asked, his voice still grating.

"Toads?" Orihime asked, voicing the questioning thoughts of every Karakura native there.

These thoughts went unanswered, however. "Why can't you just summon one? It's not _that_ hard in your condition, is it?" Anko asked, only to have the back of her head lightly smacked by her Hokage.

"Things from _our_ world can't be directly summoned to _this_ world. My slugs and your snakes included." Tsunade lectured, causing Anko to pout like a kicked puppy. "Anyway, the elder toad we sent you off with came the moment they caught word of your 'death' back home… he should be arriving any minute."

A few moments of silence later, and Naruto coughed. "I guess we'll be waiting, then… can't get too used to people popping up as soon as you talk about…" A knock at the door, and Sado walked in. "…aww hell. I guess I was wrong… what's up Sado-kun?"

The giant glanced around for a second before staring down at the blonde. "…a talking frog."

Naruto chuckled. "Toad, actually… bring him in."

He nodded before leaving, returning less than a minute later followed by a large toad sitting upon a seat mounted on an even larger toad.

"Hey Fuka… 'sup?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto!" Tsunade roared, "Watch your mouth! You should speak to Fukasaku with more respect, he's your sensei, isn't he?"

The blonde boy scoffed. "_Was…_" He muttered.

"Heheh… it's quite alright, Tsunade… I just needed to confirm the rumors. After all, I couldn't believe he could die so soon after mastering the Sage arts…" The old toad chuckled.

"M-mastering!?" Tsunade choked.

"In a week." Fukasaku replied with a nod. "I didn't believe it was possible, but when the lad sets his mind to something, there's no stopping him…" He let his mirth die down a bit before continuing. "So lad, care to tell me why you're dead again?"

Everyone could only ponder for a moment on the fact that he'd said 'again' when Naruto replied. "I'm not dead. You must be getting senile in your old age…"

The toad began to sputter indignantly. "Well, I most certainly know living energy from dead when I feel it, you little ingrate!"

"Which is exactly why I asked for you--I swapped all my physical energy for the spiritual stuff. Any ideas why I can't use Ninjutsu now?" The blonde asked bluntly.

The toad scowled. "With all the intelligence you showed during your training… you're telling me you haven't figured it out yet?"

Naruto smiled. "Handseals, right?"

The toad nodded. "They are useless to you now. The energies follow different commands now. Handseals only apply to chakra; a mixture of physical and spiritual. Take physical energy out of the equation, and you need to set new rules to control it."

"Incantations." Rukia interjected. "Pure spiritual energy is dictated by spoken word." Everyone in the room glanced at her, and she smiled shyly. "I dabble in the occult now and then…" She lied. It was still better than the truth, right?

"How did you figure it out?" The toad asked.

Naruto responded by flipping out the three-pronged kunai. "I can still use the Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Gasps were heard throughout the room from the ones who actually knew the significance of that fact.

Fukusaku, however, scoffed. "You trained in it obsessively after you'd found out about it from little Jiraiya… mastering it to the point where you didn't need handseals…"

Naruto nodded. "I bet I can still do Kage Bunshin, too… but I'm in no condition to try right now. I can use Rasengan, too, but that's pure control, so it's not surprising."

"The fact remains, I can do nothing more for your abilities now. I trust, however, that there will be explaining?" Naruto nodded at the toad's question. "Then I shall remain until then."

"Can it wait until tomorrow, though? I need to rest a bit…" Naruto groaned.

Tsunade sighed, but nodded. "We'll talk after you get some sleep. You need it."

--

Naruto groaned, blinking his eyes open the next day, around mid-afternoon. Surprisingly, he found Tatsuki snuggled up against him.

'_Damn, I must've been hurt pretty bad if that didn't wake me up…' _He glanced around, finding that aside from Tatsuki, he was alone… except for a pair of large eyes staring up over the end of his bed at him. '_This… is why I never got a dog._' "Akamaru…?"

The dog yipped in response… something that sounded odd now that he wasn't a high-pitched puppy.

Naruto sighed. "Well, you can go tell everyone I'm awake now…"

Akamaru spun around happily, dashing off through the opened door.

"So, how long have you been awake?" The blonde asked.

Tatsuki giggled… something she didn't do often. "For a while now… I just liked being so close to you."

Naruto gave his girlfriend an appraising eye. "And you don't think anyone is going to have a problem with you sleeping with me?"

She punched his arm. "Sleeping _next_ to you. 'With' implies we had sex." She stated with a slight blush.

"You mean you didn't?" A confused voice asked from the doorway.

Naruto immediately picked up a pillow off the bed next to his, and flung it at the man. "Dammit Kakashi, you ruined our moment!"

The Jounin stood and took the projectile full-force… not that a pillow could have much force behind it. "Well, you can't deny that it's a little odd that you haven't… you know…" He giggled, and Naruto was fairly certain the man was blushing.

"What of it?" The blonde growled.

"Well, most shinobi do things like that at a young age. Our life expectancy is pretty short, after all. Most shinobi accept a 'live life to the fullest and damn the consequences' mentality." He blinked, putting a finger to his chin. "Maybe that's why we've got so many young mothers in Konoha… Never really thought about it before…"

The blonde sighed. "Is there a _point_ to where you're going?"

He received a one-eyed glare. "Be quiet, boy! I'm trying to help you get laid!"

Tatsuki glared up at him. "I'm right _here_ you know! It'll happen when it happens, dammit!"

The Jounin shrugged. "Good enough, I suppose… But a ninja's life is full of danger…" He hinted playfully.

"I happen to be _looking _at the most dangerous thing to happen to him since he wound up here!" She practically yelled, though this was only because she was blissfully unaware of the incident with the trio of Gillian Menos.

"Touché…" The Jounin conceded.

"What is all this racket about?" Tsunade hissed, holding her head. From the looks of it, she'd been drinking… a lot. Judging by the glow in her hands, though, her hangover would be gone in a matter of minutes anyway.

"Just Kakashi being a pervert." Naruto answered.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow, taking in the position the two teens were in. "You two obviously made it too easy for him."

"Well…" Kurenai asked, walking in, surprisingly lacking her Genjutsu. "…we're waiting."

"For what?" Naruto asked.

"Your _explanation._" The red-eyed Jounin spat venomously.

The blonde glared back at her while Kakashi started pushing the bed out of the room. "Fine…" He muttered.

Everyone else had gathered in the main room of the house, waiting for the blonde. Tatsuki was now walking alongside the bed while the boy's old sensei pushed him along, flanked by Kurenai and Tsunade.

"Explain." The red-eyed woman snapped again.

Naruto sighed. "You want me to start at the beginning for everyone that doesn't know the whole story? I mean, what're you two still _doing_ here?" He asked, pointing accusingly at Keigo and Mizuiro.

"We're not leaving, we just found out one of our best friends is a _ninja_! This is awesome!" Keigo announced exuberantly.

"We'd just like a bit of explanation, like everyone else…" Mizuiro added.

"Fine." The blonde boy huffed. "Just stay quiet until I tell you otherwise… It all started about sixteen years ago, on October tenth. Back home, the village came under attack by a giant demon fox, the Kyuubi. In order to stop it, my father sacrificed his life to seal it into my body, turning me into a living prison. I can interact with it mentally, but unless my will falters, or I let it, it has no control over me." A good many people gasped at this. "The majority of the people back at _home sweet home_ happen to think otherwise; that I'm the demon reborn, or that it's been controlling me all my life, and they've made it their mission in life to make sure that mine happens to be worse than hell."

He sighed. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina, and Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure." More gasps. "The Sandaime, upon taking up the job again, made a law forbidding anyone from revealing this information to the younger generations, in the hopes that I could lead a normal life. It didn't work…" He sighed again. "Any questions?"

Most of them raised their hands like school children, and in their defense, a good number of them _were_ school children…

"Why did you say the 'you' Hinata fell in love with was a fake?" Kurenai asked bluntly, instead of raising her hand and waiting to be called upon.

Naruto put his hand to his chin in a thinking pose. "That's a bit difficult to answer out of context, so it'll need a little explaining. The Kyuubi said that it was the result of 'A conscious mind breaking before it was even capable of conscious thought' I know, the fox is a lot smarter than he lets on… anyway, it's basically a highly advanced form of self-imposed Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder." There were several gawking faces looking at him, and he smirked. "Since the age of four, I'd never been seen by the outside world, instead hiding within my own subconscious. I'd strip myself of everything but the bare essentials, leaving mostly just the ability to speak unobstructed, as well as several other key memories and abilities to enable myself to survive. At the end of the day, I'd reabsorb the 'other' me, and, using my own photographic memory, add the entirety of his knowledge to my own before starting all over again the next morning."

He was interrupted by a punch to the shoulder. "Why didn't you ever tell me!?" Tatsuki yelled.

The blonde blinked for a moment, before smiling. "I've never once used my 'mask' in front of you, and thus, it was irrelevant. I've been incapable of it since before I'd come to your world."

"Incapable?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "After Jiraiya finally broke through to me during our three year trip, he forced me to swear never to use it until I returned to Konoha. When I _did _return, I hadn't used it in a little over two years. As such, I'd lost the ability to completely separate my conscious and subconscious minds… It still worked, for the most part, until I began my sage training, and I stopped using it again. When I'd returned to Konoha after that, I was completely incapable of it."

"And then you set up that prank…" Tsunade muttered angrily.

"Yes…" Naruto chuckled. "That… prank." He started to laugh darkly, but reigned in his mirth before it left his control. "In all honestly, that plan was two-fold. I had intended to see how many of you would mourn my passing, and if those numbers didn't match what I'd decided upon beforehand, I was prepared to leave Konoha."

"What!?" Several of them bellowed.

"I was going to leave the village, if I decided there were too few of you there that wanted me… sadly, the hollows made that choice for me, and now, here we are…" Naruto said, holding his hands out as if displaying the house.

"B-but… why… N-Naruto-kun…?" Hinata mumbled.

"Hinata…" He said sharply, before his visage softened. "I've always hated it when you stutter. Take a deep breath, and try again."

"Naruto…" Kurenai growled, but was silenced by a dark glare from the boy.

Hinata did as asked, and took a deep breath. "Naruto-kun… why would you want to leave us? Why would you want to leave everyone that cared about you?" She asked, surprising everyone, especially Kurenai.

He let out a small, sad chuckle. "Do you know how many shinobi hate me?" She shook her head. "Fourteen Genin, one hundred and sixty-two Chuunin, and forty-three Jounin." He answered his own question. "And do you know what the average ANBU platoon; the largest guard I've ever had, consists of?"

Tsunade's eyes fell at this. This definitely wasn't in Sarutobi's notes… "They didn't stand a chance, did they?"

Naruto nodded. "One Jounin, and thirteen Chuunin. Less than a tenth of the number of people conspiring to bring me harm." He chuckled. "I'm actually a little jealous… the other me never had to remember all of those beatings… and of Gaara." The ex-Jinchuuriki's eyes widened at this. "I've wished… for months after we'd met… 'if only I had a shield like his, that could keep all of the pain away'…" The blonde took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, wiping the forming tears from his eyes. "Have any of you ever had a Tenketsu burst before?"

They all shook their heads, except for Hinata, who looked to the ground. It'd happened to her, once, when she'd fought Neji… but he'd only managed to destroy two, and it took months for her body to properly bypass them. It'd been an almost unbearable pain. The only thing that kept her conscious through the pain was Naruto's voice…

Orihime raised her hand. "What's that?"

Naruto smiled. "Well, with Chakra-users like us in our world, the energy is mixed inside a person's chakra system, and expelled through one or more of their three-hundred and sixty-one Tenketsu. Having one burst is a serious medical emergency… a civilian probably wouldn't survive having more than a few destroyed…"

Neji's eyes widened. "Oh my god… That's why…" He muttered. "I thought yours looked different… but…"

Naruto nodded. "So you did notice? I'll bet you just didn't care back then, when we fought, huh? A ninja would be lucky to survive losing ten percent of their Tenketsu… and at first, that's what it started as… about fifteen percent. Then twenty, and then thirty, forty… It's actually quite difficult to accomplish, even for a Hyuuga, which is why even I'm surprised they managed to destroy sixty percent of my chakra network one night… heh, they nearly let the Kyuubi out right then." He let himself have a morbid chuckle at the irony of it.

The blonde sighed. "Oh, but I've got other stories, too… being tossed into a pit filled with broken glass, dismemberment, vats of acid… I really can't believe they thought a little acid would kill me… They came much closer when they chopped me up and smashed my rib cage… It's funny, though… they'd never just outright kill me… they'd always, every single time, leave me for dead… Like they'd remembered I was just a three, four, five-year-old boy right before they'd strike the killing blow… but then they'd be at it again the next day."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he glanced over the group. "Have you ever seen a patch of blood that you couldn't explain? Where everyone would just tell you to look away, and walk past it, like they were trying to ignore it? That was mine." He hissed. "Konoha is _paved _with my blood. Not a single street or alley I haven't bled in… and you expect me to _want _to stay? To go back _there_!?"

It took him a moment, but he calmed himself. Reaching out with his left arm, the room heard it pop and crack as he straightened it. "This arm… I've lost it four-hundred and sixteen times." There were gasps, but he wasn't done. He bent his arm at his elbow, pointing to his left eye. "This eye… seven-hundred and seventy-nine times." His finger lowered several inches. "This jaw… one hundred and eighteen times."

He narrowed his eyes again, radiating a small killing intent about the room. "Need I continue?"

He was knocked down suddenly, two arms encircling him, a weight on him, and a head pressed into his chest. "T-Tsuki-chan?" He asked, seeing her hair, and feeling tears soaking through his shirt.

She shot up from him, slamming her fist into his cheek. "You _idiot_…" She choked through her tears. "You should've just said so from the beginning… that you just didn't want to go back… that would've been enough for me…"

The girl fell back down upon him, not able to hold herself up any longer, and nuzzled into his neck. Naruto's arms found their way around her shoulders, and he rubbed her back in gentle, soothing motions. "I'm sorry, Tsuki-chan… I'm sorry…"

"Okay…" Tsunade muttered. "We've gotten enough for now. Let's give the _lovebirds_ some alone time…" She chided.

Naruto gave her an appreciative glance, and everyone filed out of the room.

--

The Hokage sighed as she sat down. "It looks like he'll be staying here…" She mumbled sadly.

"You can't blame him, though…" Shizune said, still wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I know I can't…" Tsunade growled. "I just wish I could…"

A timid, faltering throat-clearing cough was heard from behind them. They already knew she was there, but they'd let her have the benefit of the doubt. "Hinata-chan, what is it?" Shizune asked with a cheery smile.

The timid Hyuuga girl took a step back, before walking closer, and bowing. "I.. erm… I'd like to… that is…"

"Speak up, Hinata." Tsunade said softly.

The girl nodded. "I… Hokage-sama, I want…" She took a deep breath, before going into one of the lowest bows she'd ever managed. "I want to stay here with Naruto-kun!"

Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, before closing with a twitch. She rubbed her brow as if staving off a headache, and sighed. "I suppose there's no helping it, is there?" She chuckled. "I think… maybe we'll need to keep an eye on Naruto-kun, don't you think, Hinata? To make sure he keeps himself out of trouble…"

Hinata caught on quickly, and though surprised, nodded and bowed again. "Thank you Tsunade-sama! Thank you so much!" It was taking every ounce of her timidity to keep her from hugging the Hokage at that moment.

"But…" Tsunade started, holding up a finger. "You do know that he's already taken, right? Chances are, you'll never take this 'Tatsuki' girl's place…" Her eyes narrowed. "You're not planning anything, are you?"

Hinata backed away, shocked. "N-no! I'd never hurt her! It would… only hurt Naruto-kun…" She added, looking downtrodden.

The Hokage nodded, accepting the girl's words. "Then I'll let you stay, and even call it a mission. Hiashi won't be able to say anything about it, then."

"Thank you!" Hinata said again, before rushing off.

Tsunade had herself a chuckle before turning back to watching the Kurosaki children cackle while burning their father's green monstrosity of a leotard.

She found that it was oddly… peaceful here. No impending wars, no sending children off to become weapons, and especially no Akatsuki running around… she could see why Naruto would want to stay in a place like this.

Tsunade found herself sighing again. She couldn't think of a single good reason to bring him back… she couldn't call it his home any longer; his home was here now. She chuckled. There were even people wanting to stay here to be near him… she honestly couldn't blame them. Konoha wouldn't be the same without Naruto.

It sickened her to think that there were actually people holding parties, frolicking and trying to turn the news of Naruto's 'death' into a new festival. She couldn't be there right now… it wouldn't be good for a Hokage to start slaughtering her own people…

She barely noticed Anko creeping up behind her; but she was the Hokage, so she did. "What do you want?" She grumbled.

"Oh damn… I thought I had you, there…" Anko muttered. "The others are packing up… and it'd be a bad thing to leave the Hokage behind, y'know?" She added with a chuckle.

"Yes, yes… I'll be right there." Tsunade said, nodding. "Are you coming, Shizune?"

The younger medic was on her feet in an instant, following her teacher. They found the rest of the shinobi in the main room, as well as the natives from Karakura, aside from the Kurosaki family, who entered shortly after the Hokage, Isshin lamenting the loss of his 'youthful attire'…

"Alright, then…" Tsunade started, her stern face back in place. "We'll be leaving soon, and returning to our own world. I shouldn't need to tell all of you _children_ to keep quiet about our world's existence, but just in case, we're leaving Hinata behind to keep an eye on everything."

Anko jumped out into the middle of the group. "Why is it only the _princess _gets to stay!? I want to stay here, too!" She huffed angrily.

"_Anko_!" Tsunade snapped. "Remember your professionalism. This isn't some schoolyard debate…" She glanced around, her eyes eventually being caught up in Anko's teary gaze, and she relented with a sigh. "…but I doubt Hinata can handle the job alone. If you're volunteering, fine. You can stay too." Before anyone else could 'volunteer', she put her foot down… literally. "I don't want to hear it! We can't _all_ stay here. Hell, I'd like to stay as much as anyone! But it's just not possible…"

Gaara glanced at both of his siblings in turn, and Temari shrugged and halfheartedly waved her hand. The red-head nodded. "Temari stays as well." Gaara stated, earning a questioning scowl from Tsunade. "We of Suna are a part of this, as well, Hokage-sama. You cannot refute this."

Tsunade groaned, rubbing her brow. "Dammit, I suppose they might need a diplomat, too… Temari is a good fit for that position."

Mizuiro gave a questioning glance to a recently healed Sakura. "She's one of their village's ambassadors to ours."

Understanding nods flowed through the room.

One woman, however, was inwardly contemplative. "That reminds me…" She muttered, turning her red eyes onto the spunky snake woman. "Anko, why are you staying? You said you owed Naruto, but you haven't explained _why_…"

Anko glanced around the room, almost fearfully, before settling her eyes onto the floor in front of her, nodding solemnly. "I suppose I should tell you, huh…?" She took a deep breath, before letting it out slowly. "Well, most of you know this already, but, my life was a lot like Naruto's… not nearly as bad, though. My teacher… was Orochimaru, one of the most hated traitors in the history of our village. So, when I pop up a few years after he leaves, everyone assumes I'm some sort of plant or spy… and they all want to kill me to make sure I don't hurt anyone." She took another moment to gather her thoughts before continuing. "By the time I was found and brought back to the village, I was already strong enough to take out just about any Chuunin that wanted to hurt me by myself without any trouble, so they'd always have to come in groups… but even then, I'd always been able to cause enough of a commotion to get help before it got… bad." Her eyes darkened at that.

"That still doesn't explain why you owe Naruto anything…" Tsunade said softly.

"He exists, that's why I owe him…" Anko muttered sadly. "I… I was always so mean on the outside, but I was always so scared, so paranoid that one day, everyone that didn't like me would all come together to finish me off, or worse…" She spat the last part venomously. "But, I never had anything to worry about, because even though I couldn't possibly handle any of the Jounin that had their sights on my head, they were always too busy trying to… hurt Naruto…" She let out a long, degraded sigh. "That's why I owe him. If he wasn't there to take all of their attention away from me, I would've been dead or worse a long time ago."

"You didn't look much like you _owed_ him when you cut his cheek open…" Sakura nearly growled.

Anko was immediately defensive. "I hadn't figured it out back then! I was still… always wondering and worrying… and after he left with that pervert Jiraiya, things just got worse for me, and that's when I figured it out. But by then, I'd gotten some people to like me, and they helped me." She explained sharply, her words forming together of their own accord.

"That… makes a lot of sense…" Tsunade sighed, immediately reverent at the name of her dead teammate.

Anko sidled up next to the blonde Jinchuuriki, immediately latching onto his arm when she was close enough. "Naruto-kun is the only reason I still have _some_ semblance of innocence left, so I've decided that every bit of it belongs to him now!"

Flushed faces painted the entire room, including the woman who'd just spoken, and the boy who currently had her breasts pressing against his shoulder. Another such face belonged to the girl on the boy's other side, who immediately mimicked the older woman's actions, hugging the boy. "Well too bad, lady! He's already spoken for!" Tatsuki yelled out defiantly. Naruto was simply trying to keep the blood from his face as the two pressed themselves against him.

"Hey now…" Anko hummed in a sultry tone. "I don't mind sharing…"

A few of the men and boys in the room were now sporting slightly bloody noses.

"Me too!" Hinata chimed, immediately throwing herself into the boy's front.

Now Naruto was one of the only men left who didn't have even a hint of perversion on his face, aside from his rising blush.

"That's quite enough!" Tsunade roared, the pink tingeing her cheeks just as much from anger as her own embarrassment at the situation. "You can fight over Naruto all you want after we're gone. Now, Hinata, Anko, get off the boy and let him have some air. Temari, I'll expect you to be the _sensible_ one in this gaggle we're leaving behind…" The younger of the pigtailed blondes nodded sharply in understanding.

While this was going on, Rukia was sitting quietly in a corner, sighing as she slumped depressively.

Once Hinata and Anko had finally left his side, with Tatsuki still clinging to him possessively, Naruto quirked an eyebrow, and held up his free hand in a questioning gesture. "Tsunade… how do you plan for them to fit in with this community? I mean, I understand Temari, she's not that difficult to hide, but Anko and Hinata have several features that don't correspond with the norms of this world… and if Hinata and Temari are going to be staying as close to me as possible, they'll need to go to school, also. Anko will probably need to get a job here, to support the increased numbers living here as much as keep up cover. A jobless single woman in her mid-twenties…? It just doesn't work."

Anko nearly smacked the boy, but held herself back from it. "I happen to be trained in infiltration, brat. I can fit in anywhere I want to. I've already got an explanation for my hair, and my eyes are just an easy Henge away from this world's 'normal'…" She said, and to demonstrate her point, she put her hands into a ram seal, closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were a rather attractive shade of hazel, complete with the black pupils she lacked without the Genjutsu.

"And Hinata?" Naruto asked. "I doubt she's ever even _been_ on an infiltration mission… Her squad is scouting and tracking, right?"

Tsunade inwardly cursed. The boy was right… main branch Hyuuga were never allowed on 'infiltration' missions, simply due to the relatively high rate of capture involved. It was one of the many compromises the noble clans made with the administration of the Hokage and the village to put their family into service. Hinata could make a Henge, sure, but she wasn't trained to hold it for the days, potentially weeks or months an infiltration mission required, simply because she was never trained for it.

The girl in question gave off a dejected look, poking her fingers together as she looked at her feet.

The look on the Hokage's face was all he needed to go on. "I have an idea, but it'd require Akamaru and Kiba to stay behind, too."

Tsunade, Naruto, and most of the people in the room glanced over to the boy in question, who was currently twitching, unconscious in a puddle of his own blood, while his canine partner stood over him, either protective of his friend, or ashamed at the boy's apparent lack of self-control.

Tsunade gave the blonde boy a withering glare. "He'd be even worse at infiltration than Hinata…"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I don't need him for infiltration… hell, I don't need him at all. My plan is all about Akamaru." The Hokage's eyebrow twitched. "How about we discuss this privately, just the five of us."

Tsunade, Hinata and Akamaru nodded, so Naruto picked up Kiba, and they walked into the next room.

* * *

Well… that was interesting… no cliffhanger this time.

**EDIT: **(Added in around when chapter 12 was posted) I edited the time it took Naruto to master Sage Arts down from a month to a week, taking the current manga stuff into account. **END EDIT**

While I was writing this, I was typing out something Lee was saying, and my computer auto-corrected it to 'youthfulness' and immediately I yelled out "Oh god!" …do I really write that word so much?

As far as the effects I was talking about when Naruto used Kyuubi's energy, I was doing my best to depict advanced radiation poisoning, which happens to be one of the worst ways to die… period. Your insides liquefy, you start bleeding out every hole you've got, and then your body gives out about twenty hours later.

By the way, 'Hiraishin' _can_ be translated to mean 'Flying Thunder God', but since they don't say it 'Hi Rai Shin' (three separate words) I'm just going to go with the actual meaning of the _single_ word; Hiraishin no Jutsu: Lighting Rod Technique.

The plans and plots will all be unveiled eventually, but probably not until after the Soul Society arc.


	7. You Smiled Softly

Yup. New chapter.

You'll notice there are quite a few .hack references throughout this fic, specifically, the story's title, 'Empty Skies' and the title of this chapter, 'You Smiled Softly'. Both are references to .hack/G.U. (Empty Skies also has to do with Naruto's Bankai, but that'll come later. 'You Were Smiling Softly' (or 'You Smiled Softly') is one of the ending themes for the three games. Either the second or third, I can't remember. Anyway, I listened to that song a lot while writing this chapter, along with Gentle Hands (the Japanese version), another end-of-game song from the same series. You should look up both, they're good songs.)

I'd like to make it known once again that I've got WAY too many ideas for fics for me to write them all. I'm begging people to take some of them off my hands so they don't drive me batty trying to write them all. It gets chapters written faster, since I'm not trying to write three fics at once. (Right now, I'm focusing on finishing this fic, and going back to work on TBH) I AM NOT PUTTING ANY OF MY POSTED FICS UP FOR ADOPTION! I'm saying I'll hand over fics I've started, but haven't posted here. You'd get a plot, _maybe_ the first half of a chapter to go on, plus me for a beta. Sweet deal, ne?

(A sample of your work will be required if you want to take one of my babies. I want to see them all do well in their own right. I simply don't have the free time to write them all)

Naruto's Bankai WILL be overpowered. Then again; it's Bankai… it's _SUPPOSED_ to be overpowered.

And no, I don't want to go into details here because this AN is long enough, but Hinata, Anko, Gaara, Ino, and several other people in the Naruto universe can't properly hide their eyes behind contact lenses. More details after the chapter. Actually, you know what? I think I _WILL _give Hinata contact lenses, because it _DOES_ make sense… She will still be required to pretend to be blind, however. I'll explain it in the chapter, since I just came up with it on the spot, and I'll be writing it into this one.

Also, I edited the description of Anko's eyes in the last chapter. I had intended that it be obvious that she had 'normal' black pupils now, but I left it out. So, I put it in to make sure everyone knew they were there.

And before you even think it; NO. Naruto's 'other self' is NOT is Zanpakuto spirit! I have plans for that… kukuku…

The dream sequence with Naruto's mom WILL be explained later, however; it was significantly influenced by Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus. If you've ever played the game, you probably know what I'm talking about already.

This first part isn't going to make much sense out of context, but there's a _little _bit of a timeskip between the last chapter and this one; about five or ten hours or so. Nothing big…

And finally, I posted it without waiting for feedback from my Betas. I'll re-read it myself, and I should have most of any errors that might be there gone by tomorrow. (Help with this would be appreciated)

* * *

Tsunade, Shizune and Gaara were currently kneeling upon sitting pillows before the majority of the captains of the thirteen divisions. The rest of their group had been sent along to their own world, but the two Kage had been requested to come to their current location, and Shizune never left Tsunade's side in important times like these.

"Do you know why you have been brought here?" Yamamoto asked in a cold monotone.

"No, we do not, Soutaichou-sama." Tsunade replied, bowing slightly in formality.

The ancient Shinigami let out what could only be described as a low growl, before his face twitched into a slightly deeper scowl. "We will address that in a moment… what is this I've heard of a _request_?"

The way he practically spat the word while masterfully appearing not to do so nearly made both of the Kage flinch… Shizune wasn't nearly as hardened as the other two, however. Tsunade lowered her head slightly before speaking. "We had asked about the possibility of setting up a permanent gate directly connecting our world to the other mortal realm."

The oddly decorated captain of the Twelfth Division smiled at the thought. "It wouldn't be as simple as our methods of sending a Senkaimon to a location independent of the corresponding gateway's location… Your two worlds are matched up almost perfectly, and any such pathway placed in your homeland of Hi no Kuni would most likely lead somewhere in the location of central Asia; quite a distance from the nation you seem most interes-…"

A dark glance from the Soutaichou was all it took to silence the man. "We graciously allowed you the chance to correct the anomalous presence of Uzumaki Naruto in the mortal realm. Instead, you leave _more_ of your people behind, and assume we will ferry them along to and fro." The aged man said in that most unsettling tone of his. "And we have no reason to create such a pathway for your two worlds to intermingle and unbalance the whole of creation that we strive to control." His voice was punctuated with the loud crack of his staff meeting the floor. "Your world is different from theirs, and you were on the verge of discovering our existence on your own. This is the only reason we have not wiped out your entire culture to ensure the balance is maintained." His eyes widened slightly, and all three of them felt an oppressive killing intent that nearly suffocated them. "Do not think we will not destroy your homelands, and anyone who so much as mutters the word 'Shinigami' for the next hundred years. We are neither as lenient, nor forgiving as you seem to think." He closed his eyes, and the killing intent was gone. "Now leave."

Needless to say, the three were gone from the room as quickly as poise and etiquette would allow.

"Don't feel too bad…" The captain of the Eighth Division said as he caught up with them. He didn't look the slightest bit like he'd been trying to catch up, however; seeming to simply _be_ walking beside them in an instant. This unnerved them even more. "He's just a stickler for 'order' and 'balance'… I'm sure a lot of us think along the same lines as you. I wouldn't have any problem with it, myself." Shunsui said with a chuckle. "The way I see it, you'd be more than able to take care of yourselves if something came up." The man stepped up in front of them and halted, which ceased their movement as well. "My division will have no problems seeing your people safely back to your own world whenever you need it."

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at his words. "That's very generous of you…" She said.

The captain instantly caught the undertone in her voice. "You want to know why we're helping you, I'm sure. It's just more 'balance' stuff, getting everyone back to where they came from. I'm sure Yama-jii and the Central Forty-Six wouldn't have any problems with that." He turned back around, his pink floral print haori fluttering behind him as he began walking again, leading them to the gate back to their world. "It's all up to them whether or not they _want_ to go back home, though…"

--

"Anko…" Naruto called, seeing the woman sneaking through the room he was in out of the corner of his eye. "…where were you?"

The woman grumbled at being caught, but she was only being half-hearted about sneaking around anyway. If she'd _really_ wanted to be unseen, Naruto wouldn't have been able to find her, and they both knew it. As it was, though, she was sneaking through the living room at a quarter to five in the morning… the other Shinobi had left for their own world less than half a day prior, and the rest of the house was sound asleep. Anko, showing off her infiltration level mastery of Henge, still hadn't dispelled the jutsu from yesterday, her eyes still shining a beautiful light brown with a dangerous green tint.

"Doing my job as the senior shinobi present in this mission…" She replied cryptically.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So you were off falsifying documents…" He couldn't help but chuckle at the way she gawked at him. "You and they still needed birth certificates, medical histories, scholastic records… how many papers did you fill out in less than three hours?"

Anko huffed slightly. "I was gone for _four_ hours, mister '_I know everything you do_' …and it was a total of four hundred and sixty-eight, including the kiddies."

The blonde whistled. He was impressed… he couldn't have done that himself without Kage Bunshin… then again… maybe that's what she did…? "Now that I think about it, I didn't have any of those papers myself…"

"An additional forty-eight for you, whiskers…" She cut him off with a smirk.

He blinked. "Wow. You're actually pretty good with paperwork… ever thought of taking a desk job? You'd make one hell of a secretary…"

She actually cackled at that. "You mean I'd make hell _as_ a secretary… no way I'm ever doing a _desk job_."

He smirked. "Even when you're old and brittle…?"

Anko scoffed, shaking her head with a frown; her purple hair, reminiscent in style to the tail feathers of a peacock ruffling behind her head. "I'm never going to be _brittle_, and in our line of work, you never get too _old_, either."

Naruto smiled. "You mean _your_ line of work. Tsunade isn't stupid enough to keep me on any of the duty rosters back in Konoha. I'm just a regular jobless, school-going teenager in the eyes of this world…"

The woman let out a slow sigh, before walking beside the couch Naruto was sitting on, hunched over in thought, and slid between him and the back of the couch. She let out another sad wisp of breath as she draped her arms over his shoulders and curled up behind him. "I wish I'd been born in this world… I'd probably be a happily married housewife by now…"

Naruto took her actions in stride, barely reacting to her touch. "I can't believe you'd actually _want_ a life like that…" He drawled.

She leaned in closer, her breath surprisingly cold against the back of his neck. "If I was born in this world, where Kunoichi don't exist, I don't think I'd care much about being one." She nuzzled into his back softly. "And any life we could have had here would've been better than the ones we had back '_home'_… isn't that what you've been up all night thinking about? It was keeping me up so late, I decided to get started on those papers early, and I got so much done because I didn't want to think about it…"

The blonde's eyes wilted slightly, and he leaned back into her body. "I'll admit, it's kept me from sleeping before, but that's not what's keeping me up tonight…" He said sadly.

She nodded, before kissing the side of his neck and slipping out from behind him. "Then it's probably none of my business. Try laying down, that should help a little." She said, before she began to walk away.

Naruto stared perplexed at her back for all of a second. "So you weren't trying to seduce me?" He asked, trying to mask his confusion under a more playful tone.

She turned back with a sad glint in her eyes, which stripped him of the smirk he'd forced for the benefit of his weak façade. "That was the most intimate I've ever been with another person. I think that's enough for now."

As she walked away, Naruto could feel her depression, even if she wasn't in the room to fuel it any longer. Running a hand through his hair, he cringed. "I'm such an idiot…" He groaned, adding this new development to his growing list of predicaments as he replayed the happenings of the previous day in his mind for what must've been the thousandth time…

--

_The group was just setting out, while Neji and Tenten hung back to speak with Gai and Lee, and Sakura and Kakashi were saying their goodbyes to Naruto._

"_Naruto." Neji said as he walked over. He stopped, his eyes downcast, and his eyes narrowed in despair. "I must say… I was… frightened… by your words. You reminded me very much of myself, before we… I and your other self, met in battle…" His hand clenched beside him. "Even if he was not you, I question why you do not heed his own words yourself… punishing Hinata-sama for your own fears…" Naruto's eyes widened._

_Sakura nodded beside them. "I… I thought you… no. You reminded me of him." She chimed in, clasping her hands in front of her. "When you were talking to her, it reminded me of Sasuke, and how he spoke to me…"_

_Kakashi sighed. "And we all know how he turned out…" He added sadly, his visible eye drooping more than usual. "Anyway, we should go catch up to the others now."_

_Sakura nodded, giving the blonde a little wave as she turned. "Bye Naruto… I hope we'll see each other again someday…"_

_Naruto nodded, still shocked by their words._

"_Naruto… Please forgive Hinata her transgressions. All she did was love you. Is that so wrong?" Neji said sadly, smiling at his friend._

_The blonde was speechless as Neji gave off a soft word of parting, and was gone._

--

Naruto's train of thought was abruptly shattered upon a resounding cry of "YOSHAAA!" from one green beasts. He really couldn't care to figure out which one at this point.

Gai had used some undoubtedly 'youthful' persuasion to convince Tsunade to let the two of them stay for three weeks, in order to give Lee a chance to learn medicine that had absolutely nothing to do with Chakra. This of course led them to continue their training at ungodly hours here where most people would think it absurd to get up before five in the morning to do anything of the sort.

…Naruto felt they got along a little _too_ well with his girlfriend.

"Yoko!" Tatsuki yelled as she sailed through the room, wrapping her arms around him and plopping down next to him on the couch in a single movement. "I'd talked to them about helping me train, and then they pop up in front of my house at four-thirty in the morning!"

"You want me to make them stop?" Naruto asked with a quirked eyebrow.

The girl, in turn, violently shook her head. "Those two are awesome! …aside from the youth rants."

"I hear you learn to tune them out…" Naruto muttered. "You're not hanging around them that long, though."

"And why not?" Tatsuki asked.

The blonde gave her a half-hearted glare. "Because they're going back to Konoha in a few weeks."

"Oh yeah…" She mumbled sadly. "I'm still getting used to the whole 'other worlds' thing…"

The duo entered from the hallway, dragging a half-asleep Isshin along behind them. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, and he glanced back at Tatsuki. "Did you do that?" She nodded, causing him to hug her. Both Gai and Lee were sporting identical green track suits, but it was still a monumental improvement over the spandex. "You're a miracle worker, Tsuki-chan." He said as he nuzzled her cheek.

She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. "I know I am, but right now, we've got training to do!"

Naruto stared half-lidded at her for a moment. "By 'we' you mean 'including me'?"

Tatsuki nodded. "Yup!"

"Aww crap…" He groaned as she pulled him up by his arm.

--

It didn't take too long for Gai to wear down Tatsuki… the poor girl wasn't even a Genin, after all. It didn't help that the girl couldn't seem to accept that she had surprisingly low limits compared to the three shinobi, and kept getting back up when she should've been resting. Naruto finally called an end to the training when he was fairly certain his girlfriend wouldn't remember her own name after she woke up.

Unfortunately, she happened to be a fairly unresisting subject for Isshin to use as a teaching tool by this point in the training, and Naruto was left standing over her protectively to make certain the man didn't try anything perverted like he'd seen him do with his daughters… or perhaps he was simply training them to immediately react violently to perverts? When this thought crossed his mind, the man's apparent lack of sanity didn't seem quite so insane.

Shaking himself free of his musings, he continued to watch over her until she was well enough to return home for the day.

--

Naruto sighed as he walked into the Kurosaki residence. He trudged up through the halls, standing in front of the girls' door, and knocking softly. He knew that Rukia would be out training with Ichigo at this hour, passing it off as kendo practice. He'd seen Karin on his way in, and it was just his luck that Yuzu answered the door.

"Arashi-ni!" She said in surprise, closing the door behind her. "I don't know what you did…" She added sadly in a hushed voice. "…but she's been crying." She landed a small fist into his stomach, causing the boy to blink. "Go in there and fix things!" She said before dashing off.

Naruto glanced down and scratched the point of impact. It hadn't even hurt… the girl barely had an angry bone in her. He shook his head as he sighed. Yuzu was the timid twin who couldn't hurt a fly. It was Karin that he had to watch out for. If what he'd seen of her is any indication, she's like another tiny Tsunade in the making…

He couldn't help but shudder at that thought.

Slowly, he edged his way into the room, where Hinata was busy unpacking her things and setting up a futon beside what had become Rukia's bed. He could already see another futon next to the other bed, doubtlessly Temari's. He lightly cleared his throat to garner her attention, even though she already knew he was there.

As she turned to him, she made one last effort to wipe away the remnants of tears in her eyes, smiling brightly, even through her light blush. Her slightly puffy eyes detracted from this, somewhat… he let out another low breath, and hardened himself to speak. "Hinata…" He said, causing the girl to flinch. He winced at her reaction… that wasn't good at all. He'd read in books and seen enough of it himself to know that what was between them at the moment was the beginnings of an abusive relationship; her, constantly vying for his love and affection while he spurned her, even if he turned a hand to her, beat her, molested her, she'd still cling to him helplessly. "Please stop…" He mumbled, his voice cracking slightly. "I'm not going to hurt you." To accentuate his point, he stepped forward, placing a hand to her cheek.

She glanced downward immediately, as if unfit to be in his gaze. His hand shifted under her chin, lifting up her face. "Hinata… I'm sorry."

She blinked owlishly for a moment, giving him a good view of just how red her eyes were. "N-Naruto-kun?" She mewled. "You d-don't have anything t-to…"

A finger to her lips silenced her. "Yes. I do. I was… wrong… to say what I did yesterday. Like Neji used to, I was just… using you as a convenient point to funnel my rage at the moment. I was unduly cruel, and I hurt you by saying what I did." He took another deep breath, and started again at a lower tone. "I was being just like Sasuke was with Sakura… or like she was with my other self…"

He'd closed his eyes to hold back tears, but felt a pressure on his cheek. Opening his eyes just in time to see a bright red Hinata pulling away from him, he almost gaped in shock. "Hinata? I… you should hate me. You don't even _know _me… we can't…"

This time, it was he who was silenced by a finger to his lips. "He… He was the b-boy I lu-loved, but he was st-still _you_. A p-part of you that a-I still love." She smiled again. "I j-just need t-to learn to love the ru-rest of you, as well."

He glanced down, and off to the side. "I still have Tatsuki-chan… I can't leave her."

Hinata's eyes hardened slightly. "Then I'll… a-I'll k-convince her to let m-me see you, too!" She nuzzled into his chest, her arms wrapped behind him. His own arms remained at his sides. She knew he wouldn't reciprocate his feelings… he was too loyal. A few tears leaked out onto his shirt. Even if it was only a fraction of him, the Naruto she knew had a big enough heart for her, as well. She just needed to show Tatsuki that. Even if it took her whole life, and she grew into an old maid and died alone because she wouldn't let go of a dream, it didn't matter to her. In her eyes, Naruto was more than worth that slim chance.

"I'll always b-be here, waiting for you, N-Naruto-kun…" She said into his chest. "I swear…"

The blonde let out a held breath, and placed his hands on her shoulders, softly inching her away. "I swear; I will be more kind to you, Hinata." He let off another sigh, glancing away. "And to everyone else, as well…"

He felt a hand on his cheek, turning his head back to her. "You see? You're not so different from the boy I fell in love with, after all." She leaned forward as if to kiss him, her blush intensifying, but she shook her head and backed away, smiling softly to herself.

"I'm still not him, though…" Naruto muttered dejectedly.

"I know." Hinata chimed, her blush darkening slightly. "Which is why I'm shooing you out of the room so I c-can get ready for a s-shower…"

Naruto felt his cheeks tinge slightly pink at the thought of Hinata in the shower, before he nodded, and hurried himself out of the room. She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction… maybe flirting was more fun than she'd thought?

--

Kushina sighed as she sat beside her husband's sickbed. She'd closed her eyes, and began to think back to a happier time… A thin smile graced her lips as she saw little Naruto, held in her arms, softly sleeping. She traced each of his features with her eyes, from the way his toothless mouth would hang open slightly as he breathed, to the small tuft of bright blonde hair on his head, and finally, along the thin lines sported on each cheek…

…her mind flashed to her son, aged as long as she's been dead, glaring into her with enough hatred to fuel the flaming torrents of hell itself.

Her eyes shot open, a thin sheen of cold sweat marring her brow.

"It wasn't your fault…" Her husband groaned, intuitively knowing exactly what troubled his wife. "You did the best you could. No one can blame you."

The woman's eyes flitted to the floor. "He can…"

Minato sighed, habitually attempting to raise his right hand to his brow, only to be reminded of the fact that it was broken. He'd recovered as much as feasibly possible from the wounds inflicted by Naruto, and was released into his wife's care. Though most would be surprised to learn it, the woman's initial posting among the Gotei Thirteen was within the Fourth Division. In her casual talks with her former captain, Unohana never missed a chance to drop hints of her desire for Kushina to return to her division, even though they both knew she wouldn't… it'd really just become playful banter between them.

…He had been living a relatively normal life waiting for his dismissal from his post as a Shinigami due to debilitating injury when Tsunade and Shizune had stopped by on a 'friendly' visit to see some old friends before being ferried back to their world.

The Godaime didn't waste a second before putting the Yondaime through a wall, shattering his right arm, as well as several ribs, and sending fractures all through his spine. Even to a resilient Shinigami, Tsunade could do a lot with a single punch.

They were broken from their reverie by Sarutobi sliding the door open.

"How is Fifth Division treating you, old man?" Minato asked, with a cheerfulness that he didn't feel.

The man's grim look was replaced by a gentle, grandfatherly smile. "Aizen-Taicho is graciously lenient in his assignments to old men like myself…" His features fell back into the grim mask of a Hokage. "…such as ferrying assignment papers between divisions." At this, he held out a thin parcel to Kushina.

As she unfolded the paper, her eyes widened slightly. "Naruto… isn't going to like this…" She said tearfully as she crumpled the note in her hand.

"In ten days…" Sarutobi continued mournfully, "Kuchiki Rukia is to be retrieved by a predetermined group. You, dear, are to report to the gate and act as part of her escort unit after she is apprehended."

Minato groaned.

Naruto wouldn't like this at all…

--

It was like the remembrance festival held every year on October Tenth, only unplanned and shabbily thrown together. Drunks filled the streets in the arms of equally inebriated women, all celebrating the death of Konoha's most hated individual.

They were even lining up to spit on his grave.

Every single member of the team sent to retrieve Naruto was sickened by it, and secretly wished that they'd stayed with the blonde, too. Everyone had found their own way of attempting to cope with it; Tsunade buried herself in paperwork for once, Yamato, Ino and Sai requested missions outside of the village, Kakashi and Kurenai shut themselves away from the world, with Shikamaru following the carrier of his teacher's child into her solitude.

Chouji ate his way out of depression, while Tenten trained until she was too tired to care. Neji actually joined into the festivities, subtly incapacitating entire throngs of party-goers with his Jyuuken. Sakura and Shizune did their parts by refusing to heal anyone injured in the parties (or by Neji's wrath), and Shino had made himself busy explaining his teammates' actions and decisions to their respective clans…

…it didn't go so well in Hinata's case.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Hiashi roared as he barged into Tsunade's office.

Tsunade, having been appraised of the possible impending rampage from Shino before he'd gone to speak with the man, knew he was coming and didn't so much as glance up from her papers. "It's rude to ask such a vague question in such a demanding way… I could have no idea what you mean." Tsunade retorted, barely containing her smirk.

"But you _do_. My daughter was left on an infiltration mission to some other _world_. This is a severe breach of conduct and the Konohagakure clan charter." The clan head growled.

Tsunade glanced up, meeting his eyes. "I did no such thing." Before he could speak, she held up her hand. "I left her there as an escort. Her mission is to ensure that _our_ secrets are not leaked to anyone who doesn't already know them, not to uncover information on anyone _else_. Thus, it is not classified as an infiltration mission, and there has been no such breach of conduct."

Hiashi narrowed his eyes angrily, but composed himself. "I see then, that there is nothing to be done in this matter…" He turned back toward the door. "We shall speak again, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, and went back to her work as the man shut the door behind him.

--

Naruto sighed. He'd been putting it off too long, but he needed to talk to Rukia. He'd tried to get her alone for most of the day after he'd apologized to Hinata, but the girl was just too busy… or she'd always made herself busy just when he found her. Eventually, he was fed up with her, and found her after dark, training with Ichigo at the park.

He'd been rather abrupt; walking up behind her, and snatching the back of her dress, dragging her away while yelling back to Ichigo that they needed some 'private time'. The boy had watched curiously until Rukia's angry yells drowned out with distance, and shrugged, going back to his kata.

When he'd finally dropped her in front of him, she immediately leapt away, yelling indignantly at him. "What the hell is your problem!?"

The blonde's stare was calm and calculated, as was his voice. "Why are you angry with me?"

Her eyes met the ground, and she scoffed. "You should be able to figure that out…"

"You're jealous of Tatsuki, and you're projecting all of that pain and frustration onto me. I know _what_ you're doing, but not _why_…"

She couldn't help but chuckle. "You never thought that someone else might like you?" Her voice cracked, and tears started to flow down her cheeks. "Of course you wouldn't, idiot… You never once considered that I…" She shook her head. "No, of course you did! You knew I was falling in love with you, and you run off with some other girl! How am I supposed to react!? You get your happy ending, and I just move on!? The real world doesn't work out so simply!"

Naruto took several steps forward, closing the distance between them, even as she stepped back. "I knew, yes. I even told Tatsuki that I might love you, too." He stopped right in front of her.

Rage suddenly flared into her eyes, and her hand struck out for his cheek. He caught her wrist before the blow landed, and held her firmly, even as she tried to free herself. Eventually, she gave up, and leaned into him. Glancing up into his eyes, she saw a frigid remorse… a darkened longing within their depths. Stretching as far as she could, she planted her lips to his.

Naruto never moved. He never once made any motion to return the kiss, even as she pulled away from him. Her tears redoubled, and he released her wrist. "Why…" She muttered. "Why her, and not me…? Or why couldn't you have just taken that Hinata girl, and saved me the pain?"

"Because she asked me to be her boyfriend…" He answered simply and coldly. "I never had any feelings for Hinata before… I always thought that she'd hate me if she knew the real me…" Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I was always a monster, deep down… I didn't want to be hurt. I didn't want to die."

"You're not a monster, Naruto…" She assured him. "You care about people…"

"I've killed people…" Naruto muttered.

"That doesn't matter! What matters is that you care about people! That you put value in human life!"

"I _don't_!" He yelled, silencing her. "I've killed people before… and I've never felt bad about it." He said through garbled tears. "I've never once felt pain from taking a life…" He added angrily, clenching his fists.

"Naruto…" She cooed, stepping closer and stretching out a hand to him.

"The other me felt it…" He said, and she stopped. "I know what it feels like… I remember it… but I've never _felt_ it." His eyes met hers, and she flinched, stepping back. "What if I just snap, and kill someone close to me… would I feel anything then? If I ever _did_ lose control… would I kill you?"

She continued to move away from him. He was scaring her… the curious glint in his eye more frightening than any sort of glare at that moment. "Isn't… this something you should be talking to your girlfriend about?" She asked after breaking eye contact with him.

Naruto sighed. "She wouldn't understand… but, she promised we'd always be together, and I trust her. I don't think I could ever bring myself to hurt her. I think… she's safe."

Rukia wasn't backing away any more. "And I'm not?" She asked, her voice far stronger than the will behind it.

He lowered his head, and closed his eyes… standing that way for a long moment, before his eyes opened again. When their eyes met, there was so much warmth and pain within his blue eyes, that Rukia could feel her heart ache… but there was something else, something that scared her.

"I… don't know." He answered, falling to his knees.

She paused for a moment, watching as the tears flowed down his cheeks, and slowly took a step toward him. A few more tentative steps, and she was standing before him. He gazed almost lifelessly into the sky, as if willing some divine explanation for his life of perpetual confliction and contradiction to be spayed upon the stars.

He was stricken from his saddened musings when Rukia knelt down, wrapping her arms around his shoulders comfortingly. "Do you think she's safe…?" She whispered into his ear. "…or do you only _want_ her to be safe?"

Another bout of tears, and the boy pressed himself against her, pushing his head into the crook of her neck to muffle his cries of anguish.

He didn't know.

--

Not far away, a young woman gazed upon the scene with her own teary eyes, white and lavender tinted red from the signs of her sorrow.

If that was what it took to earn his love, then she would become 'safe' in his eyes… no matter the cost.

--

Another few days later found Naruto, Rukia and Ichigo walking home from training that night. After patching things up between them, Rukia had allowed Naruto back into their training regime. While Rukia conversed with Ichigo on the reason his Bakudo weren't properly applying themselves to his targets, Naruto mused on a conversation the previous day…

_Hinata had just gotten back, having used a limited Henge to change her eyes and allow her to explore the town along with Ichigo's sisters, when she was shuffled into another room by Anko._

_In this room were all of the ninja, along with several of their acquaintances from Karakura. "Ahh, Hinata…" Naruto said, walking in behind her. "I was wondering when you'd get back… We just finished acquiring something for you…" He reached into his pocket, retrieving a small case. "These are colored contact lenses. Something this world came up with a while back…" He said, handing it to her. "However, the only way to make you appear fully capable of sight would be to put so much color into the lens that you wouldn't be able to see through it without activating your Byakugan anyway, rendering the entire point moot. It all has to do with the way eyes work, and it's all very technical…"_

"_N-Naruto-kun…?" She asked, still trying to absorb the situation she'd been thrown into._

_He smiled, reaching forward to open the case in her hands. "You place the lens directly on your eye, and then you become the proud owner of two pretty dark-brown eyes."_

_She glanced down at the pair of them. Both had a large ring of dark coloring around a small circle of lighter coloring._

Naruto still couldn't help but smile or snicker at the look her face held, or her initial attempts to place the pair of lenses on her eyes… it just took a little practice. He immediately silenced himself, though. It wasn't very nice to laugh at her plight, and he _was_ trying to be nice more often…

With a sigh, he went back to listening in to the other's conversation.

"Oi… Rukia…" A voice called from above.

Naruto was instantly in a defensive stance, inching toward their apparent target. Ichigo wasn't as quick, but he had his blade at the ready about as fast as it took to pop Kon's pill in his mouth.

Rukia simply glanced up at the voice, her eyes widening. She had expected to see Renji, but the second person… "Byakuya-nii-sama?"

* * *

I'm not too proud of the end of this chapter… I had to tack a lot of 'scene connector' parts in, just to keep things together and keep on writing through the writer's block.

How did Hinata know Naruto was leaving, when she was supposed to be asleep? Simple… Her 'Naruto-Sense' tingled.

Okay. WHY don't contact lenses work? Because they simply have no visible pupils. Their pupil (without which the eye cannot function, and thus, they must have them, albeit the wrong color) is the same color as their iris. If Ino wore contact lenses, it wouldn't do her any good, as her pupil would still be blue. Gaara, teal; Anko, beige; Hinata, white. Hinata would still appear to be blind. (It is widely accepted that if the pupil is any color other than black, the person is blind. No exceptions)

Putting the black into their contact lenses would hinder their sight by blocking their seemingly non-existent pupils. That's why most actors dislike playing blind people; the contact lenses they wear for the part REALLY DO make them blind until they take them out.

I'm also not liking the part I put into the chapter regarding that, but I doubt a re-write would be any better.

Again, I'm trying to pass off a few ideas of mine. It helps me write faster, because I'm not trying to make new fics all the time. An easy way to go about this is to look in my profile. Everything I've started the first chapter of is there. If you don't see it in my 'Stories Authored' list down below it with the links, then I should have no problem giving it up, provided you've already done some work that I could read over to see if your spelling and grammar are up to par.


	8. Imminent Impediment

Yaaay! Byabya VS Naru-chan!

…that's what I'd say if I were a fangirl.

((cough))

Moving on…

It's Ichigo and Naruto fighting Renji and Byakuya. Who will win? Well… I think that'd be obvious, but ANYWHO…

It was said that the last chapter was 'all over the place'… really it was just meant to be character development before Rukia's abduction. I'll admit there was a lot in there that I hadn't planned on writing until it was already written, but honestly, it was pretty good stuff, and I felt that I couldn't delete something that had seemingly written itself…

I really had no intention of turning Naruto into a sociopath… it just happened.

And yes… I'm _STILL_ looking for a place where I can have Renji say "Got it memorized?" and not be OOC.

((If you don't recognize that reference, you need to play KHII))

* * *

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he pointed his blade at the taller man, who looked something like a noble…

He _hated_ nobles…

Excluding Neji, Hinata, and Rukia, of course… but most of the time, 'nobles' were a kind to be hated.

And if there was one thing Naruto needed, it was more people to spread his general disdain for the world between.

"We have been watching you, Uzumaki-san…" Byakuya drawled in a cold monotone. "…and as you have yet to call upon the power of your Zanpakuto, and cannot tap into the demon's power for an extended period, you are no match for either of us."

"So stand aside, or we'll cut you down." Renji added with a slight smirk.

Naruto's stance tightened. "Rukia… I assume you know of these two?"

She nodded. "Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji… Captain and… vice-captain of the sixth division…" She paused for the instant it took to recognize the badge on Renji's shoulder, marking his rank.

"And what are you here for? I highly doubt it's a friendly visit…" Naruto nearly growled.

Renji was about to answer, when Byakuya cut in. "We are tasked with the apprehension and transport of the fugitive Kuchiki Rukia, and the removal of the anomalous factor that is Kurosaki Ichigo."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "And why is it so important that you bring Rukia back?"

Renji's eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into a sneer. Naruto could see it, though… the glint of sadness in his eyes… "Otherwise, she'd be late to her execution, wouldn't she?"

Naruto couldn't help but let his features twist into a maddened grin, which caused Renji to pause. "That's the best news I've heard since you've shown up…" Naruto said lightly. "…now I've got a good reason to kill you."

It took every ounce of speed in Renji's body to draw his blade before the blonde's could rip him in two.

"Ichigo!" Naruto called as he continued to put pressure on his opponent's blade. "Protect Rukia!"

The orange-haired boy could only nod and shift into a defensive stance in front of the girl as Naruto began flinging his sword in seemingly random ways, simply wailing on the red-haired man; but the skill was still there. The blonde was whittling away at Renji's defense, wearing him down.

And Renji could see it, too.

After blocking another blow, the Shinigami struck out suddenly, causing his opponent to block in reflex, catching him in another deadlock. "You're pretty good…" Renji stated, barely panting from exertion. "…I'd never think you were a speed-type fighter, looking at that huge sword of yours."

Naruto smirked. "And that's exactly why I caught you off guard… a pity it won't work again."

"And that's why I'm going to beat you." Renji shot back with his own grin.

The blonde's smirk shifted into a full smile, so much so that his eyes nearly closed. "I'm not the one with nicks in my sword…" He mused.

Renji took just long enough to inspect his blade; just enough to confirm that the cutting edge was marred by ticks and gouges, that he didn't notice the blonde's fingers until they were pressed against his sternum.

"Byakurai." The blonde said darkly, as the energy coursed out of his fingers and through his foe's chest.

The Shinigami, recognizing the move at the last moment, had jumped to the side, ensuring that the attack missed his spinal column. He was rewarded for his efforts by a pierced lung instead, but at least he could still tell his legs to move…

He did know however that at the moment, he was sorely outclassed. "Roar, Zabimaru!" He yelled, just as the blonde hopped onto his shoulder.

"Ichigo!" Naruto shouted cheerfully. "Finish this one!" He added, before vanishing again, pushing off Renji's shoulder, causing him to stumble forward. He reappeared in front of Byakuya, his blade already mid-swing.

He sliced through air.

"You are quite swift, Uzumaki-san." He heard from behind him, and vanished just before a blade pierced where he had stood previously.

"So are you…" Naruto said, sending a diagonal slash at Byakuya's back.

"But I am faster." Naruto heard, causing him to cringe and speed away, holding his now-bloody side.

"So, when did you hit me?" The blonde asked, a hint of honest curiosity in his voice.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed so slightly that only someone trained to notice such things would. "The first time you evaded me… you were not completely successful."

Naruto let out a hollow chuckle. "I guess I wasn't, huh?"

The captain's eyes flickered to his lieutenant for an instant, seeing a bloodied Ichigo clash blades with an equally injured Renji. "The boy is fighting evenly with an injured vice-captain… admirable."

"He's got a good teacher…" Naruto said whistfully.

"Perhaps Rukia-san should have requested a transfer to the academy instead of accepting her assignment to this town…" Byakuya mused, barely flinching as he brought his blade up in a flash to parry Naruto's own. "It is truly a shame that you would be escorting her this night, Uzumaki-san. Had you not been, we would have taken no direct action against you." Another flash, and his sword was holding the blonde's at bay inches from his brow. "But now, we have no more time for games…" Byakuya pushed him back with a surprising amount of force before pointing his blade at the boy. "…Scatter, Senbonzakura…"

Naruto's eyes widened as he watched the blade fragment and scatter. '_So many…_' He thought, swiping the flat of his sword at the few he could see clearly.

Rukia was watching from just behind Ichigo as the two battled, trying to keep an eye on both fights at once. But when she heard her adoptive brother speak… "Naruto!" She screamed, just as twin pillars of blood erupted from Ichigo's back, splattering across her cheek and dress. '_He was targeting them both!?_' She thought.

Renji, in his confusion over his opponent's newest wounds, looked back up at his captain to see a rain of blood fall from the blonde, shortly before his body fell from the sky.

"Ichigo… _Naruto_…!" Rukia yelled as she watched their respective forms strike the cement.

She was stopped from rushing to either of their sides by Renji, who held her shoulders firmly. "You can't go…" His voice grated.

"The human's ability to channel Shinigami power has been destroyed." Byakuya's hollow voice echoed over them. "Whether he lives or dies, the anomalous factor that is Kurosaki Ichigo has been neutralized, as per our orders." He added as he slowly sheathed his blade. "Even though I struck the same points on Uzumaki Naruto, the demon would allow him to remain an active hindrance… as such, I also caused innumerable minor wounds to debilitate him."

Renji's grip softened as his voice picked up where his superior's left off. "In other words, you'd better just come quietly Rukia… and give them a better chance to live." Though his words were sharp, his tone was soft… he didn't want his friend to suffer from seeing them as they were…

She nodded, tears flowing from her eyes before being led away, where Renji opened the Senkaimon gate.

All three of them paused when they heard a low grating voice… "Ru…ki…"

Turning back, Rukia could just barely see Ichigo pushing himself to his feet, before an immense weight engulfed them all.

Ichigo fell back to the ground, while Rukia and Renji's knees buckled under the strain of it. They couldn't even breathe… Byakuya's eyes widened at the red veil flowing over the blonde as he began to rise from where he fell.

Rukia only caught his eyes for a second… his sea blue eyes tinted with a touch of light green as they stared back. But something was wrong… his eyes were blank…

He was still trying to stop them, but he wasn't even awake to do it.

In a blur of motion, Byakuya had thrown the pair behind him through the doors, before slamming them shut behind him, panting slightly. When he turned back to them, he'd already composed himself, but he couldn't deny the spark of fear and insanity he'd felt when confronted with the Kyuubi's power.

--

Kushina stood leaning against the side of the wall as she waited for her charge. She'd already sent the other guards away. It wasn't too difficult to do, given her rank. The only problem was Ikkaku, but one hint at her knowing the _reason_ he waxed his head sent him running after his subordinates. She'd still be giggling over it if it weren't for the severity of the situation.

She was about to march a girl she knew her son liked off to have her head lopped off.

Giving birth was _much_ less awkward.

A groan escaped her as the notion passed through her mind. She was silenced, however, when she caught sight of Rukia, clothed in a white yukata and flanked by four men in red, each carrying a staff tethered to the choker around her neck, which was then laced down into bindings for her hands.

The primary reason she sent the other guards away is that even she alone was more than enough for this assignment… The other was, that she didn't want to be overheard more than necessary.

"So, you're Kuchiki Rukia, huh?" The red-head asked as she came up beside the girl, standing much closer than regulations allowed, but no one was that much of a stickler for protocol; add in that she was in an entirely separate chain of command from the guards in red, and you wound up with five people completely ignoring her as she seemingly talked to herself.

"I think there's something wrong with the system if they're executing you for just staying on Earth too long, I mean, who gives a damn about that human kid getting your powers?" She started, trying again to broach conversation. After a moment, she glanced down. "You look pretty good in white…"

She got barely a glance from the girl before she went back to ignoring the taller woman. "You know Rukia, absolutely nothing you say here can make your sentence any worse… there's no need to be so silent…"

"And what possible reason could you have for giving a damn about anything I say?" Rukia growled finally.

Kushina barely spent half a second looking downtrodden, but she was sure she'd been seen. "A pretty good one, actually… I suppose I just want to hear anything you've got to say. Be it about the human world, the food there, culture, boys, that Ichigo kid… or Naruto…"

Rukia froze in her tracks instantly, the red-clothed guards halting with her. "Who are you?" She asked in a dark tone.

The woman turned back to her smaller counterpart, and she let out a small wistful sigh before their eyes met again. "My name is Uzumaki Kushina… Naruto's mother."

--

Naruto was having that dream again… that same damned dream about his mother… but more annoying was the fly hanging just above his face.

The blonde's eyes flashed open, crimson for only an instant before glowing a deep blue, glaring straight up at a fellow blonde in an odd green and white striped hat, who had a tiresome grin plastered on his face, even as Naruto did his best to crush the man's windpipe.

Kisuke was pleased. He almost didn't catch the younger blonde's hand moving before it was around his throat. He knew the boy wouldn't… or rather, _couldn't_ kill him at the moment, which was why he decided he could get so close in the first place… "You know, that is quite rude, Naruto-kun."

The bewhiskered boy's eyes narrowed as the man spoke, sounding as though there wasn't a hand trying to crush the life from him, or even any threat to him at all… "What are you?" He growled.

Urahara's smirk only grew. "A Shopkeep."

Naruto's eye twitched at this answer. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

The man looked downright hurt that his words were taken as lies. "I may be a simple store owner now, but I was a great many other things before that, you know."

"Like what?"

His smile brightened again. "That's a secret…"

Naruto's grip tightened, to no effect. "Then, if you _are_ helping me, what are you reasons?"

Only the trained eye could tell that the man's smile faltered for a moment. "Rukia-san happens to be my favorite customer. I'd hate to lose her patronage, that's all."

"You're lying about something…" Naruto droned.

"Of course I am. You can never be too careful these days."

Naruto growled, tightening his grip once more, before letting his hand fall to his side. "So, why bring me here? What happened to Rukia? Where's Ichigo?"

"Straight to business…" The man sighed. "The boy is fine. He's resting in another room. I brought you here because I have nowhere else to bring you, and Rukia was led away to be executed… or were you hoping for details?" The younger blonde's glare told him all he needed to know. "Right… you have about thirty days until Rukia is executed. You should be healed in less than two. After that, I'll continue to train Ichigo for eight, nine if you're fine by tomorrow, then spend another seven opening the gate to Soul Society. Then, you'll have thirteen days to save your little girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend…" Naruto said offhandedly as he contemplated the information.

"That's not what she thinks…" Kisuke chimed. "…and I think you like her too."

"That's irrelevant." The younger blonde growled. "I'm with Tatsuki now."

Urahara chuckled. "Well then, you are a very lucky boy… as long as they get along well…?" Naruto shook his head. "Well then, you are a rather unlucky fellow, aren't you?"

The bewhiskered boy grumbled. "Is there a _point_ to you still being here!?"

He tilted his odd hat down a little, letting out a small sigh. "Fine… You are Jinchuuriki."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And this is the part where I explode, asking you how you could possibly know that, right?"

Kisuke's eye twitched. "Yes, actually…" Another sigh. "Your world is constantly watched, patrolled, and protected by a coalition of the second, eleventh and twelfth divisions. We have information on your kind, since you obviously aren't the _first_ of your kind."

"Of course not. Assuming as much would be idiotic…" The younger deadpanned.

"Yes, well, regardless, your little display earlier was enough for me to figure out what you are, and what you hold. I myself have seen the Kyuubi face-to-face before…"

This got the aforementioned reaction from the younger blonde. "What!? How could you possibly…" Upon realizing what he'd just said and done, Naruto began to grumble again.

Kisuke let out a chuckle before continuing. "Many young or new captains go off and try to kill a Bijuu soon after attaining their new rank. I happened to be one of the few who tagged along with her when she tried to fight Kyuubi…" He mused. "Needless to say, we were easily outmatched, and retreated before we could suffer too many casualties."

Naruto let his eyes flicker with awe for a moment before returning to his impassivity. "You must've been strong back then to have survived at all… and that explains why you're so strong now." His eyes narrowed. "Shinigami age differently than humans… how old are you?"

Urahara gave off a light chuckle. "That is rather rude, you know… but I remember a time when there were no such things as Hidden Villages…"

"So at least three-hundred, then…" Kisuke's eyes widened. "…Konoha was founded just over a hundred years ago. Assuming you aren't some sort of prodigy, add in time for you to train up to the point where you would be allowed to go anywhere near the Elemental Countries, and you have roughly three-hundred years. Give or take about fifty."

The older blonde's smile was brilliantly shining over his features. "Your powers of deduction are astounding!"

"You still didn't answer my earlier question." The younger noted.

"True…" He noted, idly rubbing his oddly pale left hand. "When I intervened, you were unconsciously calling on the Bijuu. This would have killed poor Ichigo-san through the sheer pressure of it with his injuries… and so I was forced to incapacitate you."

"And I injured your hand?" Naruto asked, glancing at the pale appendage.

Urahara couldn't hold back his smirk. "No. _Kyuubi_ injured my hand." At the Jinchuuriki's curious glance, he continued. "I believe this would better be explained through a story… do you know why the Shiki Fuuin takes the life of its user?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he stared at the man. "You know of the Yondaime's technique?"

Another condescending smile… "That old thing…? It wasn't the Yondaime who developed the technique… he wasn't even the first to use it. He was simply the only one to use it in a setting where people would _find out about it._" Naruto turned away to contemplate his words as the man continued. "I was there when the treaty between our kind and your first Hokage was signed. I think you call it a summoning contract… regardless, the technique was made, and that meant it would inevitably be used."

"So… why does the Shinigami eat their soul?" Naruto asked plainly.

The man was taken aback. "Eat their soul? Where did you get _that _nonsense!? Didn't I just say that it _kills _them?" Naruto was watching the man closely again, and Urahara let out a sigh. "Channeling that much spiritual energy from a foreign entity severs the connections between the body and soul. Hell, I'm surprised that Quincy boy is still alive…" He mused.

Naruto was staring at his hand now. "So then… Kyuubi…?"

"Is as much a part of you as your own spiritual energy as far as your body is concerned. It's simply always been there. Channeled in its most pure form, I suppose that problem could arise, but I wouldn't know. The simple fact is that as far as those humans who used the sealing jutsu were concerned, they died, and the only thing left for them was Konso… usually done on the spot by the Shinigami that they summoned." He took a small, deliberate, and overdramatized breath before continuing. "As the humans have no knowledge of how to care for a body that has no soul, it inevitably dies. I should be able to keep Ichigo's body alive and well for a month or two before it dies if need be… more than enough time to rescue your dear Rukia-chan…"

The younger blonde was looking back up at the man now. "…And your hand?"

Urahara let out a wistful sigh, and started rubbing his hand again. "When I struck the back of your neck, some of the Kyuubi's energy was forced into my body. This can be very damaging… it simply drains away the life in whatever it touches, rotting it from the inside when there isn't anything left to sustain it. I'll be fine after I get my own energy flowing normally again."

A harrowing scream was heard from the other room, followed by deep cries for the store's owner.

"Ahh, I see Ichigo-san is awake… I'll leave you to your own devices for now, just remember to return for training before the end of the day…" The odd man cheered, before leaving the room. Naruto was up not too long after, and hobbled out of the building.

Glancing around, the blonde saw no one in sight, save an odd girl in a white and pink dress hiding behind the shop's doors, glancing at him occasionally. She was obviously with Urahara, so there should be no problem with her seeing this…

He took a breath, focused his mind, shook off the instinct and habit to put his hands together, and calmly stated; "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Instantly, five copies stood beside him, and he inwardly cursed. '_That much time and effort for five clones…? Not only did I expect more like fifty, but it'll be useless in combat at this rate…_' He sighed to himself, and just waved his hand, sending them off to their predetermined targets.

Glancing back once more, he found the odd girl staring at him with a slight blush, before ducking back into hiding. Another Hinata… '_Just what I need…_' he thought with a sigh and a light shake of his head before he started off towards his own destination.

--

"You…" Rukia muttered, her eyes wide at the recent revelation…

…shortly before every fiber of the girl's being was thrown at the woman, trying to break her bonds and rend the other woman asunder. "You _bitch_! What right do you have to call yourself his mother!? You have no idea what his life's been like, and you expect to be forgiven for abandoning him like you did!?" She raved, falling to her knees and panting heavily. She just didn't seem to have any energy anymore… like she was just some new soul or something…

Kushina knelt down beside her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're right. I wasn't there to raise him, or be a mother for him, but I _did_ give birth to him, and I love him every bit as much as you do…"

Rukia's eyes widened and flew up to meet those of the woman beside her. "How did you…"

Her response was a chuckle at first. "He's been watched ever since he first came to Soul Society… I've got friends in all sorts of places, so I'm pretty sure I've been able to piece together everything that's gone on since the two of you met…"

The smaller girl let her eyes fall, letting out a sad sound. "So then… all of our private moments… were never even just the two of us…" Her gaze flashed up angrily. "Pervert!"

Kushina immediately flushed red and jumped back in reflex. "Pervert!? How the hell would you label me a… wha… what the hell kind of lewd things have you been doing with my son!?"

"That is _NONE_ of your business, and _exactly_ my point!" Rukia fumed. "What kind of social life is he expected to have when he knows he's always being watched!?"

The red-haired woman blinked owlishly. "…He knows?" By the look of the girl, Kushina was sure that were her hands not bound, she would have slapped them over her mouth. "How long has he known!? I didn't even know he knew!" Rukia just shook her head sharply in response. "Then again, he is my son, and a good shinobi, if Sarutobi is right… so it's to be expected that he'd know."

"A little late to play the proud mother, isn't it?" Rukia asked with a smirk.

The red-head growled, but was otherwise silent as they waited for Rukia to rise to her feet.

"No matter what you do, he'll never see you as his mother…" Rukia chided, before she was viciously struck across the face, and sent back to the ground.

Kushina stood over her ominously. "You have no idea what it is to be a mother…" She growled, tears in her eyes as she turned away.

Rukia rubbed her cheek tentatively. The larger woman had the advantage in weight, height, and it seemed spiritual power as well at the moment. Spitting out a small glob of blood, she climbed back to her feet. '_This woman is insufferable… and obsessed with Naruto._' "I know what you did to him… he's not going to forgive you."

The woman froze again, her muscles tensing as if she were about to turn back and take another swing, but she didn't move. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Rukia glared up at the woman. "How could you not-!?"

Kushina turned back to the smaller woman, tears silently trailing down her cheeks. "I don't know what you are talking about." She repeated.

And then Rukia understood…

She'd already forgotten her mortal life…

* * *

Naruto is a speed-type fighter. So is Byakuya. Byakuya is faster; ergo, Naruto loses… for now.

I have NO IDEA what Byakuya calls Rukia. I couldn't imagine him calling _anything_ '-chan' and by Beta doesn't remember him ever referring to Rukia at all… So, I'm just going to go with '-san' because he seems like that sort of person. If anyone knows what he actually calls her, I'd be grateful for the info.

Yes, I'm giving Ururu a crush on Naruto. It's just for the sake of giving Urahara something to make fun of Naruto for. It's not going to develop into any sort of romance.

Rukia is not a 'girl'. Rukia is almost twice Kushina's age. She's a _woman_, even if she doesn't look it… but sometimes I run out of descriptors, and default to 'girl'. The same could be said of Kushina.

I'm running with the 'Shinigami almost never have any memory of their past lives' thing, and it's already become a big part of the plot. Big enough that even if it's wrong, it's staying the way it is because I don't think I'd be able to rebuild it after yanking it out of the storyline.

**EDIT:**

_It seems that leaving this until the next chapter just won't do, so I'm adding it in here. Shinigami lose their memory of past lives, but this happens gradually. Sarutobi, who died less than three years ago, still has most of his memories, and Minato, who is losing his memory slightly slower than average, still has most of his. Kushina, who is losing hers faster than normal, is still trying to hold on to the memroy that she has a son, hoping to still remember it by the time Naruto would have died._

_The average amount of time it takes to lose all memory of one's mortal life, is, in this fic, approximately twenty years._


	9. A Day of Dissonance

Alright, I stuck this in at the end of the last chapter, editing it in late, because I figured you lot would try to puzzle out HOW Kushina could've lost her memory, and yet still retained it… it's a conundrum, which is easily explained.

The memory loss is _gradual_. Shinigami have between ten and thirty years after gaining their spiritual powers before they lose their memories in life completely, which is, for ex-Shinobi, the moment they die. She's been dead for about 15-16 years, and is on the lower half of the average memory loss time. Minato is on the high-end, and has only lost a third of his memories so far. Sarutobi, who only died three years ago, can't tell the difference between natural senility and his Shinigami memory loss. He just hasn't been dead long enough.

When Kushina said 'You have no idea what it is to be a mother', which is another thing that was brought up in reviews, she _MEANT_ that Rukia has no idea how horrible it feels to be hated by your own child. That, and, being privy to Rukia's medical records (since she IS registered as a criminal now) she knows that Rukia has never had a child, and thus, really doesn't know what motherhood feels like.

Not that I'd know, either, but hey, I'm just the author…

Just to clear this up, Naruto is _NOT_ limited to just five clones. Like I said, he was _trying _for fifty… and how many has he managed in the past? The point is, at his current level, he's down to about 1/10 the potential he had before with Kage Bunshin. Meaning he could still try for a thousand, and get a hundred. He just needs more practice using it without the proper seals. ((The more he makes, though, the longer it'd take to focus enough to do so))

And, _JUST _to confuse you more, I'm going to confirm that Rukia hates Kushina for something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT than what Naruto hates her for. (Maniacal laughter) So puzzle THAT ONE out, whydontcha!?

I'm going to skip over a lot of things that were as they were, or are _very similar to_ how they were in canon Bleach. I'm just saying this, because I don't like transcribing _everything that happens_.

I'm worried that Naruto may be drastically influenced by the character Gregory House, whose fictional life I have recently begun to partake in. (The show is frickin' awesome) Pay it no mind if the blonde begins to remind you of ill tempered cripples.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he idly walked along the road, his feet silently trudging their way towards Tatsuki's house. He knew his clones were off doing their jobs, so that gave him time to think. Rukia was _gone_… and if they didn't bring her back, she'd be _killed_. It wasn't as if he had considered _not_ coming to her rescue, but he just wasn't sure how the others, especially his girlfriend, would take it… he might not come back alive, after all.

'_And this was supposed to be the world where I _don't_ risk my life every other week…_' he mused with a sigh as he knocked on the door of her home.

The blonde turned his back and waited the twenty-six seconds it took for Tatsuki's mother to answer the door. "Oh, Naruto… you must be here for Tatsuki?"

He lowered his head in a light bow before answering. "Yes, Arisawa-san. If you wouldn't mind telling her I'm here…"

"Well, she's not actually here… she left with Orihime and… Chad? Yes, I think that was his name." The older woman replied. "They left a few hours ago…"

Naruto nodded. "Thank you. I should be able to find her."

"Good luck." She answered with a smile before shutting the door.

Naruto dropped the small smile from his face instantly as he spun on his heel, closing his eyes to focus on Tatsuki's unique Reiatsu. Within moments, he had a direction, and began making his way back to the sidewalk.

He'd learned how to look for signatures while Rukia was explaining a more complex version of the technique to Ichigo. It still irked him that the orange-headed boy could actually surpass him at anything…

Naruto lightly shook his head. That was all irrelevant to him at the moment. He had a girl to find.

---

"So, it's been a while… Quincy." The clone said, standing on the other side of a tree as Ishida walked by.

"So it has… what business do you have with me?" Uryuu asked as he pushed up his glasses, the crinkle of plastic filling the blonde's ears.

"A bag?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he glanced back.

The Quincy boy nodded, turning the bag so the Naruto could see the store logo. "I was running low on blue thread… so I figured I should restock while I was there."

Naruto smirked, and chuckled under his breath.

"You think my hobby is womanly and demeaning, yes?" Uryuu growled.

The blonde shook his head. "Not at all… in fact, tailoring is an important part of shinobi life." He paused for a moment to give Ishida a chance to deny it, but he merely listened curiously. "Every day, we get into fights, or skirmishes, or we run through some sort of terrain that damages our clothing. Having them repaired or replaced is expensive, so most take to repairing their own clothing. I was simply musing on the fact that I've never been very good at the art. I had an instructor, though, who would usually mend my things for me. He offered to teach me how to do it myself on many occaisions… I had to learn what I know of it from a hermit sage when we left to train away from home for a few years." Naruto hadn't realized it, but he'd started walking alongside Uryuu as they headed back to his home. He shook the thoughts from his mind. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this…"

It took almost all of Uryuu's willpower not to smirk. "I hear people tend to 'open up' when they're happy…" His not-smirk fell when he saw the blonde's teeth grinding. "…or distressed. What happened?"

He was replied with a growl as the blonde continued forward a few steps, even after his companion had stopped. "Rukia's been taken."

Ishida closed his eyes with a minute sigh. "This is Shinigami business… it has nothing to do with me."

The blonde glanced back, his eyes sharp even though they weren't narrowed. "And that's why I let you bring it up."

The Quincy smirked. "An interesting tactic… it sounds like something I would do."

"I didn't come here to be complimented…" Naruto growled.

His answer was a sharp glance and a quick retort. "I wasn't complimenting you. It's a very misleading and underhanded move."

Naruto glanced over at the bespectacled boy as he came up beside him and stopped. "You said you yourself would use such a tactic." He stated.

Uryuu took a single finger and poked it to his frames. "I am a very misleading person." He said before continuing on his way.

The blonde watched as he left, contemplating. "You forgot 'underhanded'…"

"No I didn't." He replied offhandedly.

The clone sighed in exasperation before glancing about, and seeing no one after Ishida turned a corner, became a wisp of smoke.

---

Clone D, as he'd begun to mentally refer to himself as, had trekked back to the Kurosaki residence. He didn't know how long it'd been since he'd left for training with Ichigo and Rukia, but he knew that the reaction to the trio not returning the night previous would be drastic. Standard procedure was to wait two days at the most probable location to cross paths with the missing person in question before beginning a search… he could only hope the bunch that stayed with him gave a damn about protocol, or else finding them all would be... Troublesome.

He was turning into Shikamaru again.

…aside from lacking the lazy attitude, clone D had no problem with being a Nara.

At this point, he'd settle for just about any family name other than 'Uzumaki' or 'Namikaze'… '_I wonder if Tsuki-chan would have any problem with me taking her name?' _He pondered idly.

Arisawa Naruto. Didn't sound too bad…

He paused at the door, and made a Kage Bunshin on a whim. Opening the door, leaving the clone outside as he made his way into the house, walking into the living room, where he saw a worried… everyone.

…except Anko…

…who tackled him from behind the moment he realized she was missing, meaning to smash his head between her breasts in worry, only to land on the ground without her blonde cushion under her; a faint fog now filling the room.

"We're just Kage Bunshin." The clone's clone said as he entered, having gained its creator's memories. "At least now I know the memory transfer still works…"

"Where have you been!?" Kiba yelled, having torn himself away from the sight of Anko sprawled on the floor in confusion… in an oddly erotic position.

"Getting patched up after Rukia was taken…" He replied, idly running his hands along the nonexistent scars of the more serious wounds he incurred at the captain's hands.

This shut them all up instantly. After a moment, Anko was back on her feet, and in full commander mode. "How long ago was she taken? By whom?" The woman asked, thinking nothing of the fact that one of her primary romantic rivals was now gone.

"I was unconscious for an undisclosed amount of time, but I assume no more than ten to fifteen hours ago. She was taken by other Shinigami to be executed." Naruto answered.

Anko cursed under her breath.

"This is not your problem." Clone D the second informed them. "It could compromise your ability to stay in this world if you try anything, but I am going to mount a rescue operation."

"W-w-we… I… I'm not g-going to let you g-go without m-me…" Hinata stuttered out, clutching her hands in front of her chest.

The clone walked forward, and patted the white-eyed girl's head. "Good, kicked puppy."

Kiba and Akamaru both growled at him. "Naruto, don't…"

"I'm _serious_!" Hinata roared at the blonde, causing him to smirk.

"That's much better." He remarked, and her eyes widened… he'd only been trying to force her emotions… and she'd given a much more firm and stutter-free reply to boot.

"For the record…" Kiba said, having seen, along with everyone else, the reason for his previous actions. "…both me _and _Akamaru take offense to your previous statement."

"Duly noted." The clone replied. "We have seventeen days to train, and decide whether or not to go before I'm leaving to get her back."

"And what does dear Tatsuki think of this?" Anko asked in a dull tone.

"That's where the original is now." He said, glancing at the trio in the back of the group. Ichigo's sisters and odd father, who were blinking owlishly at the entire conversation, trying to make sense of it.

"Where is oniisan?" Yuzu finally asked.

The blonde stared down at her blankly. Really, the family was taking the fact that Ichigo was a Shinigami rather well… or they just hadn't figured it out yet, which seemed an obscene idea to him. "He's still with the man who saved us. He heals slower than I do, after all."

"He was hurt!?" The young girl nearly shrieked, causing half of the ninja to wince.

"He'll be fine." He assured the girl. "But he'll probably want to come rescue Rukia with me and anyone else that decides to go…"

Naruto's clone was abruptly silenced by a hand slapping the back of his head. "What is with all that 'who else wants to go' bullshit?" Anko asked, lightly rubbing her hand. The blonde had a harder head than she thought… especially for a Kage Bunshin. "Of course we're all going."

There were a round of nods from all of the shinobi in the room, and a yip from Akamaru.

Naruto internally winced, before letting out a sigh. "That damned Urahara wants to talk to me about something… I'll contact you all soon." He said as he turned away. After taking a few steps, he stopped. "Everyone stay here. It'll make finding you that much easier. I should be back in a few hours."

And with that, he walked into the entranceway, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

---

If there was one thing Naruto hated _nearly_ as much as stuck-up nobles, it was stakeouts. Even if he _was_ much more calm and controlled than his false countenance, he still despised staying in one position for hours.

He'd watched the store owner explain everything to Ichigo, give him some odd medicine, and have him lay down and get more rest. That strange little girl came by every now and then to check up on the orange-haired boy, but other than that, everything was quiet.

"Ahh, Bunshin-kun…"

The clone turned around to see the store owner standing behind him. "And what would you want?"

The man smiled. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to let Naruto-kun know that Urahara-san…" He pressed a hand to his chest, indicating himself. "…would like to speak with him."

Urahara contemplated letting the clone dispel itself normally… for all of a third of a second before firmly whacking it over the head with his cane.

---

The clone sent after Orihime and Sado was surprisingly successful at locating them…

After all, who wouldn't be able to when the pair were throwing around that much spiritual power?

The training method seemed fairly obvious, as well… boys VS girls.

Sado was flinging streams of energy at the girls, while Orihime blocked the attack, and Tatsuki pressed onward towards him, while the giant slowly kept the distance between them.

"It's a damned stalemate…" The clone grumbled as it leaned against a nearby wall.

"Yes. Quite…" A voice said from beside him.

He glanced to his right, to see a small black cat sitting beside him, eyes locked intently on the battle.

"So, you must be Yoruichi…" He mused.

"Oh, you've heard of me?" The cat asked, glancing up at him briefly.

The clone nodded. "Sado and Orihime were talking about a 'Yoruichi'… I assumed it had something to do with training, since their explanation for both knowing you was quite… far-fetched…" He glanced from one combatant to the next. "Why isn't Orihime attacking? Is that shield her only ability?"

"No." Yoruichi proclaimed. "I've observed three abilities thus far; one for attack, one to heal, and the last to defend…"

The Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Is it a ranged attack?"

The cat nodded.

"Then she should be using it…" The blonde sighed.

"She simply lacks the killing intent to use it efficiently. It seems the potency of her abilities lies relative to her own will to enact said ability." The ball of black fur explained.

"Then perhaps someone need to force out he-…" He narrowed his eyes. Sado had unleashed a blast, and Orihime was too far away to block it…

He disappeared from the cat's side, leaving the small animal to smirk, and contemplate his apparent proficiency with Shunpo.

The stream of energy was coming straight at her. She couldn't block or defend properly against it, so she was going to attempt to counter some of it with her own empowered punch… until the blonde Bunshin caught her wrist, and split the beam in twain with his Zanpakuto.

He glanced up at the larger boy. "That wasn't very nice, Sado-kun…" He mused.

The giant bowed his head sadly. "I'm sorry…"

Naruto's clone nodded in acceptance, before turning back to Tatsuki, only softening his grip on her wrist. "And you… you should know better than to charge a superior opponent." Tatsuki looked somewhat downtrodden as the blonde turned to the other girl as she ran up. "And you, why weren't you attacking? A battle of attrition like that is a horrible way to fight."

The girl was silent, before chuckling in embarrassment and rubbing the back of her neck. This mirror into his past only served to infuriate the blonde. He took in a moderately deep breath before continuing. "If you don't attack, you can't win. An opponent isn't going to kill themselves trying to get to you."

"Naruto… cut it out." Tatsuki chided. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on her?"

The blonde turned his eyes onto those of his girlfriend, only to narrow slightly. "I'm sorry, but if she comes with me to fight against the Shinigami, she won't be my friend anymore. She'll be my _subordinate_… just another soldier in the fight to get Rukia back."

"Yoko… what's wrong with… Naruto…?" Tatsuki began to ask, when he seemed not to be paying any attention to her. Instead, the blonde had his head lowered, as if meditating.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, another 'Naruto' popped into existence on the other side of the girl, grabbing her other arm as they forced her to her knees. "Trust me." He whispered into her ear before turning hatefully glaring eyes upon Orihime.

"If you don't kill me, I'll slit her throat." The first clone said, sliding his blade into position to do just that.

"Chad!" Orihime cried out, but not for assistance. The giant was already in motion to destroy both blondes before the sharpened edge could come near the girl's skin.

Sado and Tatsuki weren't the best of friends, but neither were they merely acquaintances. Both were friends of Ichigo, and had hung out together with him on several occasions. This only bolstered the young giant's chivalrous need to protect a young woman in danger.

Regardless, he stopped five feet from the blonde.

What had rooted him in place wasn't the killing intent rolling off the blonde, but rather the deft wink the blonde gave as he shifted his gaze to the larger boy, moving his head just enough so that Orihime couldn't catch the signal.

Sado knew almost instantly that Naruto was testing Orihime. After all, he'd been training with Orihime in the use of their powers for days, and knew more about them than just about anyone but Yoruichi or Orihime herself. He knew why she never attacked. She didn't have any will to do so, which would lessen the effect of said attack.

He wasn't ranked 11th in his grade for nothing.

Sado was the same kind of genius as Ichigo and Naruto. While they excelled in scholastics through study, their specialty was utilizing information to determine a situational outcome in the fraction of a second. Simply put, they were made to think in combat. Especially when that meant figuring out someone wasn't your opponent before you killed them.

…A wink tended to be a good indicator of this.

So, Sado decided to pretend that it was the third clone popping up out of the ground in front of him, with its sword pointed at his chest that was stopping him.

Making a single Kage Bunshin, even in his current state, wasn't too difficult for Naruto or one of his clones. Creating a _second_ clone in an area comprised entirely of stone and sedimentary soil? Yeah. _THAT _was difficult.

Regardless, it was up to Inoue to act on her own. Her friend was in danger, and no one would help her. She did what came naturally.

"Tsubaki: Koten Zanshun!" She roared, sending the small fairy spearing through the clone's skull before it could react.

Orihime was _pissed._

"Remember that hate." The second clone, which was now helping Tatsuki to her feet, proclaimed. "Remember that rage, because one day, it'll save your life."

The girl in question was blinking owlishly. "…he went 'poof'!"

Both of the Naruto clones resisted the urge to smash their palms into their foreheads, fearing that they would only dispel themselves. "Yes, Inoue, he did." They both said as one.

"…and there are two of you!" She continued. "How are there two of you?"

"It's called Kage Bunshin." A third Naruto, standing up beside Yoruichi stated.

"So, you must be the original…" The cat mused.

Naruto smirked. "And _you_, are a talking hairball."

Yoruichi growled at the insult. "And who are you to talk, _brat_?"

The blonde glanced back up at the others, and began walking towards them. "My clone forgot to mention that I hate cats, didn't he?"

Yoruichi looked up at the blonde in confusion, before he scoffed.

"Hey, boss, umm… what's up?" One of the clones asked cheerfully.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the clone. "Who gave you permission to _threaten _my girlfriend?"

His doppelganger blinked. "Erm… essentially, you di-…" The clone started, before exploding in a puff as the original hurled a small rock through it with enough force to pierce through the dirt it was partially composed of, rendering it into a pile of mud.

"Huh… I always wondered what happened when we make Kage Bunshin underground… it sorta' just kept all that stuff in it, didn't it?" The remaining clone asked.

His answer was another rock through his face.

"So, what exactly _were_ those things?" Tatsuki asked, trying to regain some hold on the situation.

Naruto shook his head as he made his way to her side. "As I said before… Kage Bunshin. A Ninjutsu technique that creates a chakra construct, which acts as a double for the user. Their memories and experiences are transferred back to the user upon their destruction, making them excellent for scouting. My… _former_… would use the technique to launch assaults en masse with as many as a thousand doubles. A shame they only last until they receive a strong enough blow to destabilize their chakra structure." He explained. "Apparently, my mastery of the technique allowed me to replicate the effects with Reishi."

The cat hummed as it came up beside him. "A Reishin double? Brilliant, but costly, yes? I don't think you'll find much use for it against stronger Shinigami. You'll only wear yourself out."

The blonde gave off a noncommittal grunt and left it at that, before tensing noticeably for a split second.

"Yoko?" Tatsuki asked, approaching him somewhat cautiously after his clones' actions.

"…Anko just smashed one of my clones with her breasts." He explained.

Tatsuki flushed. "That hussy…" She ground out between her teeth.

The blonde leaned forward, slowly turning her head toward him with a finger on her chin. "She may have some ideas about her and me that I don't share, but she and I do have a lot in common." He said simply. "She's not a 'hussy'."

Tatsuki huffed, turning her face from his, before glancing back up at him. His eyes hadn't left her, and still held the same soft glow that told her that, no matter what, she was important to him. Those eyes that made her feel safe and wanted. Before she realized what she was doing, her lips were softly pressed against his.

Orihime squealed beside them, shattering the tender moment. "Oh, you two are so cute together!"

The raven haired girl growled, before smirking. "Don't make me tell Ichigo abo-…" Her words were stricken from her as the other girl slammed into her.

"No, no, anything but that!" Orihime cried.

Naruto and Tatsuki shared a confused glance. Neither of them knew what the hell the other girl was talking about. It was obvious she had a crush on Ichigo, but what could've set this off? Each giving a shrug, Tatsuki decided it would be best to just comfort the emotional girl.

After a few moments passed, the blonde twitched slightly, before pausing again, and sighing. "We need to go. That Urahara wants me back at the shop…" He turned back to the group, who were all watching him attentively. "We should all meet back up at the Kurosaki's clinic. I think a few of the others might want to go, too."

He received nods from the rest of the group.

---

Deep in the dark recesses of the village hidden in the rain, four figures stood in the void that was their lair.

One knelt in quiet subjugation before another, who was glaring down at the first. The third held their gaze down on the bowed head condescendingly.

The fourth leaned against the wall, contemplating life, existence, and the wonders of dairy products while juggling various fruits and humming a spirited tune.

"Tobi, would you cut that shit out?" A strong, grating voice echoed from the hallway where he entered from.

"Kisame!" The masked man yelled, instantly dropping his fruit and rushing towards the blue man. "Does Tobi get any souvenirs from Suna?" He added happily.

The large man groaned. "No, I didn't get you anything…" He said, before grumbling. "No idea why I got sent to that damned sandbox again in the first place…"

"To search for the Nine Tails." The regal figure in the center of the room, which the first was still bowing to, stated. "Zetsu. Report."

"As you wish…" The bizarre man said as he rose to his full height.

"You were right, There wasn't even a shit stain left of the little fucker." A darker voice emanated from the same mouth.

The man coughed before continuing. "It appears that rumor of his death was indeed false, however, we have been unable to find any trail to follow."

Pein nodded. "Aside from these 'Shinigami'…"

Zetsu shrugged. "I don't think they seem like the sort of people that would hide a Jinchuuriki without good reason."

"The little bastard is probably hiding with one of that fucking hermit's old spy cunts." The dark voice interjected.

The man let out a slow breath, and turned to the figure beside him. "And what of the Eight Tail, Konan?"

The woman's eyes shifted to the side. "Sasuke and his group are still pursuing it. It will take no less than a week at best with the amount of time they took to recover after their last encounter with it."

The man's strange eyes narrowed. "…And at worst?"

"They may never catch the Jinchuuriki. They have a tracking unit, but are primarily a combat cell. We must assume they may never locate him."

Pein's jaw tightened slightly, but he gave a soft nod. "Zetsu, focus on finding the Eight Tail. Finding Nine can do us no good without Eight."

Zetsu nodded, and melted into the floor.

Turning his gaze upon the large man from Kiri, Pein's eyes closed. "Kisame. Go to Konohagakure. You leave immediately."

The shark-man's eyes shot open. "W-what? I can't even rest for one day!?"

The smaller, more dangerous man turned away from his subordinate. "You can rest on your way. You have a new assignment." He glanced back with narrowed eyes. "Bring me one of these… _Shinigami._"

---

A scant few hours later, with a minimum of fuss, Naruto had managed to lead all of the Shinobi, along with Sado, Orihime, and Tatsuki, to the small shop owned by Urahara.

This was aided by the fact that most of the ninja had been in 'mission mode' mentality… otherwise, nothing would've gotten done…

"Well, we're here…" Naruto said as he stood in front of Kisuke, the mountain of man that was Tessai, and the now almost fully healed Ichigo. They'd been led down into a large underground training area, and Naruto was anxiously awaiting… something.

He had no idea what, of course, but Shinobi were trained to expect something to happen, even when there wasn't anything suspicious about their surroundings. …needless to say, he expected something strange to happen in a place like this.

"My… so many of you… I think we may have a problem, though." The store owner stated.

The smaller blonde frowned. "And that would be?"

Urahara idly scratched under his hat while he pondered the words to explain… and then he decided his musings would get him nowhere, and thus he decided to just come out with it, if just to see the looks on their faces.

"Everyone that decides to travel to Soul Society will never be able to use Chakra again."

…he was right. Their reactions were priceless.

* * *

A painful choice, but necessary…

Anyway, you'll want to read all of this AN. It explains a lot.

And just about everything that _isn't_ explained here _will _be explained in the next chapter.

As I was writing this chapter, I was perusing Youtube when I came across a band called Yellowcard. While listening to them, I noticed that the emotions I saw in the music were very similar to what I've been trying to convey through my writing. You can listen to them if you want to, or maybe not. Who knows? Maybe I'm the only one who'd see any sort of similarity between the two… ((Chuckle))

Regardless, I thought they were good. As such, 'Light up the Sky' by Yellowcard is this fic's theme song until further notice.

I happen to think it fits in more ways than one.

PS… Punk Rock violinists are the most badass thing ever. This is irrefutable.

(Although I'm told by a friend that it's a fiddle, since, in his words, "A violin couldn't take that kind of punishment")

((Cough)) Anywho…

**EXPLANATION TIME! **(some spoilers)

AKATSUKI IS BACK! (Or appearing for the first time ever, if you want to get technical)

As per currently, The 'Naruto world' is current with the Naruto manga. Pein does _not_ attack Konoha, because he holds back when they hear that Naruto is 'dead' … instead, they send Zetsu to verify, giving them time to realize the Killa-Bee they have is a fake, and that they need to refocus on finding _him_, since they have no idea where Naruto is.

I personally believe they need to catch and absorb the Bijuu in order from one to nine, meaning, they _can't_ use Naruto until after they catch Hachibi anyway.

Tobi is Tobi because Tobi is awesome. (and a good boy) You'll get to see him in full Madara-mode, just not now.

I'll get to Konoha and all that later. I'm currently reading through Bleach because I'm checking up on a plot point that I'm not sure is in there. (again)

**EXPLANATION IS CONCLUDED**

Of all the OCs I've ever come up with, I'd have to say I'm most proud of the pair who will show up in this fic; Dizzy and Garou. I'm so proud of them in fact, that when they are introduced, I will put up a poll in my profile, with three options: asking if you want them to have their own 'background' chapter, another saying you'd rather I left them alone altogether, and finally, a compromise between them giving background during the normal chapters. I'm inclined to do the compromise, but if enough people vote for one of the others, I'll just go with that.

I just don't want to have characters that no one knows anything about, so when they do something, you'd be all… "WTF!?" Because you didn't know their background…


	10. Darkened Mirrors

There were people asking "What happened to chapter ten?" and my answer is, there _was no_ chapter ten before this one. It was a test, and apparently, the site had already fixed what I was testing for when it switched to all the new stuff.

One of the reviews I got said "I liked your variation on Kakashi's test of teamwork." And I swear, my train of thought was 'Wait, I didn't do anything like… OH WAIT! That wasn't _that_!' …Anyway, the thing with Tatsuki wasn't meant to be _ANYTHING _like Kakashi's test. Naruto was just trying to get Orihime pissed enough to be react violently.

Also, another pointed out that, apparently, (I didn't go back and check, you see) when Yugito's demon was sealed, more than one eye was already open on the statue, thus, they wouldn't need to be in order in canon. Another noted that I wasn't _wrong_, per se, in that Itachi said somewhere (again, I didn't check) that regardless, the nine tails needed to be sealed last.

I honestly don't care.

As long as everything in my fic makes sense to _ME_, I'm happy. I'll try and explain all the little details to you, but I'm not going to sacrifice plot for the sake of idiots. (I'm not calling the people who said those things idiots. In fact, a great many of you are looking too far into some of the things I put into the plot… The people like that are just along for my rant) I happen to like thinking my plots are complicated, so… well, just don't burst my bubble, and everyone's happy. XD

Another interesting reply told me that, although the last chapter was a lot of words describing very little happening, it was very enjoyable. To this I reply "It is better to have five hundred words of story played out over five thousand than for five thousand words of story butchered to fit a single page." (I can fit about 500 words on a page, and last chapter was about 5000 words long, just to put that saying into context)

Truth was, I had a nasty case of writer's block while working on this, and with Wrath of the Lich King _and_ Persona 4 coming out while I was working on it… well, the fic took a bit of a back seat. The sad thing is, I'm not really sorry at all about not updating. I only have one level 80 character (my Blood Elf Paladin), and I'm not even halfway through P4. Really, you should feel glad I finished this as soon as I did.

Anyway, I hope most of you had a happy holiday season, and that you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"_Everyone that decides to travel to Soul Society will never be able to use Chakra again."_

Naruto narrowed his eyes, while the others shared expressions of confusion, outrage, and a myriad of other emotions. "Explain." The blonde growled sternly through the indignant shouts of the others, silencing them instantly.

Kisuke returned the other blonde's gaze in kind, while his voice was much more calmly controlled. "How long were you who use Chakra, in Soul Society while '_passing through_'?"

Anko, as the senior among the Shinobi present, answered for them. "About an hour, give or take a few minutes."

"Do you know _why_ you were hurried through to the other side?" The man continued, but only received heads shaking in the negative as his reply. "The answer is simple… and _he_ is it." He added, pointing at Naruto.

"Me?" The younger blonde asked curiously through his irate tone.

Urahara nodded. "The more time a being spends without Chakra, the more their body acclimates to this new state of being. Even if the rescue only took a week to pull off, there is no guarantee you would be able to return and retain your abilities. Furthermore, taking into account the time that would be needed to escape back to this world after Rukia's rescue, the rescue party would undoubtedly be in Soul Society for at least two weeks."

His eyes narrowed further as he continued. "If you remain in Soul Society for ten days, I guarantee that you will never be capable of using Chakra ever again."

The entire room was silent until Naruto gave a slow nod, and turned back to face the shinobi. "So, who still wants to go?"

Every one of them stepped forward.

"…Every single one of you is an idiot." He practically spat. "Even just listening to him speak, I still gathered the basics of the mission parameters… So long as you are in Soul Society, you will be like me; incapable of using any techniques that require handseals." He paused to let it sink in. "Here in this world, you are easily the strongest of our little troupe. But take away our precious Ninjutsu, and the lot of you are going to be nothing but weak links."

"B-but… N-Naruto-k-kun…"

The bewhiskered blonde sent Hinata a sharp glare.

She flinched away, but knew what was upsetting him. She took a deep breath, and tried again. "Most of my techniques, including the Hyuuga styles, do not require seals."

"It's the same with me and my wind Jutsu." Temari chimed in.

He nodded in response. "Which makes you two the most useful of the Ninja here…" Naruto stated. "Buuut…" He turned back to Urahara, with a finger pointing towards Hinata, indicating her as the subject of his next inquisition. "Chakra-fueled genetic traits… what would their reaction be to Soul Society?"

The man shrugged. "Honestly, it simply shouldn't work. She might try it, and blow out her eyes, or her whole head might explode. I've never heard of anyone trying such a thing." He seemed to think on it for a moment, before continuing. "But… I do know that there are people who've died, but had such traits in life. All of them were incapable of them in death… It seems like it's entirely tied to the physical body."

Naruto nodded. "Byakugan, bad… got it." He turned back to Hinata. "Which renders most of the Hyuuga Taijutsu useless."

The pale-eyed girl hung her head solemnly in response.

In the end, Naruto sighed. "You all still missed the point, didn't you?"

They all looked up at him in confusion.

"This simply means that you have ten days to train as many abilities to a seal-less state as possible." He said with a smirk that quickly faded. "But if you're still useless, you're staying behind, got that?"

A look of realization washed over them, before each gave a deft nod.

"Good. So, since you each get it now, I'll make some clones to help you with that." He turned back to Urahara. "We _are_ supposed to be training after all, yes?"

The shopkeep smiled brightly, nodding his support. "This training area is yours to do with as you will. Just remember that I need to train Ichigo myself, and if any of you wind up in my way…" His eyes narrowed, and his tone darkened. "I'll kill you."

Many of the younger people there couldn't help but swallow reflexively at the killing intent he'd leveled upon them, and nodded fervently. Anko and Naruto could only return his glare, and await his reaction.

"Okay then!" Kisuke chimed happily. "Let's get to it, shall we? Day one of training starts now!"

---

Naruto sighed as he stared out at the twenty clones of himself. He'd had every intention to make more, and he _was_ getting better at it, but it wouldn't be a good idea to overtax himself. After all, he wanted to train too.

He waved his hand, sending the clones off to their tasks. Half of them went off to assist the other ninja in their training, while the other ten stayed to continue training his proficiency with Kage Bunshin, and to find out which of, if any, his other techniques he could still use.

Closing his eyes, Naruto sat back against the stone wall that rose up into the dome of false sky. Temari was fine. Most of her skills were elemental, and already nearly seal-less. Anko was an experienced Jounin. She'd be able to prioritize her skills, and he wouldn't put it past the woman to already have half a dozen skills that she could still use without seals. Hinata worried him a little, but still, she was Hinata. How could he not be worried about her? She was much like Orihime… too kind for her own good, but still, a Kunoichi was a career killer. Still much better off than the orange-headed girl. Kiba… was an issue he'd deal with later.

The explosions off in the distance that signified Ichigo's training to regain his Shinigami powers was distracting, but he trusted the stubborn boy to tough it out. He was just as sure that it was more of a diversion for everyone else than it was for him.

Naruto took a deep breath, and relaxed himself. It was time to do something he'd been putting off for far too long…

He was going to talk to the Kyuubi.

---

The blonde's mind was admittedly a dark and dank place… it's no wonder his 'other self' was so confounded by it… it was _his_ mind, not that imitation's.

…he still wanted to know why it was a sewer, though.

Regardless, he trudged through the sludge until he found himself in front of the fox's cage.

"**So, you're finally back…" **The fox mused. **"I'd wondered how long it'd take."**

Naruto craned his neck up at the massive beast, which was laying down with its head on its paws, honestly looking bored out of its mind. "You sound like you were expecting me…"

"**Well, of course I was. A tiny little gnat like you, out in the world all by yourself? I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did."** It scoffed.

"A little gnat came home to play, never again in the light of day…"

Naruto spun around, glaring into the darkness of the halls behind him, from whence the new voice came. "What are you?"

A chuckle was heard. "What am I? What are _you_? Consider all you know to be true."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, and thought for a moment. "You're my Zanpakuto, aren't you?"

"At last! A light within the dark! A spark of hope for this little lark..."

Naruto was confused by this… A lark was a type of bird, and a songbird at that. This voice was deep and feral. Not unlike the Kyuubi's own as it resounded through the chamber.

"**I've had to put up with this shit for days…" **The fox grumbled.

Naruto, however, completely ignored the caged Bijuu behind him. "What do you mean by that?" The blonde asked into the dark.

"A joke, a jest; I am as you made… now let us end our little charade…"

A pair of eyes opened wide in the dark, shining a sickly green. The first thing Naruto identified about them was that they simply weren't human. The shape was wrong… not to mention the fact that they were too large, and spaced just over a foot apart, eight feet up…

Yes, he instantly saw that it was very, _very_, not human.

And from the looks of those eyes, the rest of its face was twisted into a carnivorous grin.

"You and I, we are both the same… And you are the only one to blame. I sit here for days, waiting for naught. If only someone knew what he had wrought… This world is dead, and _you_ are to blame. You think that this is some sort of _game_!?"

The beast in the dark huffed in heaving breaths as it paused.

"…you used 'blame' twice." Naruto noted.

While both Naruto and the fox expected the spirit to be incensed, or at least a bit perturbed, they were thoroughly shocked when it began to cackle. "Caught that, did you? Oh well, it's true."

The blonde blinked. "You're not quite right in the head, are you?"

Oddly, it was the fox who answered. **"If you'd had to listen to him for as long as I have, you'd know that's an understatement, brat."**

A high-pitched shrieking emanated from the shadows, which Naruto soon realized was cackling. "I'm not sane? That's a shame… you must know we're both the same…"

His reply was narrowed eyes and a hushed tone. "We're the same? How?"

"I am you, and you are me. Surely even you can see…"

Naruto sighed. His Zanpakuto was simply infuriating. "No, I don't."

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as a bestial roar echoed through the halls. "MONSTER! Beast! Demons are we!" A short moment passed, and he chuckled. "I guess that means we match, us three…"

"You're not making any sense…" The blonde growled in turn.

"**He never does…"** The fox grumbled.

Naruto sighed, but pressed on. "You are my Zanpakuto spirit, yes? That means you should know more about the powers of the Shinigami, and how to better arm myself against them." He took a few steps towards the shadows containing the eyes. "I want you to teach me."

"Power? That is all you want? And I thought of you like a savant… I have might that I could lend, but what would that bring in the end?" As silence was his answer, he snorted and continued. "If all you care about is might, then yours is a sad and endless plight."

"I need power and information to save someone important to me." Naruto answered.

"You want me to _help_? Insignificant whelp…" The spirit spat.

"If you're not going to be of use, then leave." The blonde replied. "I had my doubts about you knowing how to deal with a Shinigami, anyway."

The eyes turned away from them for a moment. They could tell it'd turned around, but the eyes appeared again, as if it were peering over its shoulder at them. "The dead should die… it's what they do…" The eyes narrowed. "And soon enough, I'll kill you, too."

This time, they turned away, and were gone. Both Naruto and the Kyuubi could tell the Zanpakuto spirit wasn't nearby any longer.

"Well, that was frustrating…" Naruto muttered as he turned back to the fox. "Now, down to business… If there's even a chance you'll know, I have to ask. Why aren't my powers and abilities like Sado and Orihime's? Why are they like those of the Shinigami?"

"**How the fuck should I know?"** The fox answered bluntly. **"I've slaughtered thousands of Shinigami and Shinobi alike, but I've never seen anyone survive long enough to tell if they were anything **_**else**_**. You're all just hairless apes to me."**

Naruto nodded. This was already more than he'd expected from the Kyuubi, after all. "Which were more powerful, in your experience? Shinobi or Shinigami?"

The fox narrowed its eyes, glaring down at the blonde before turning away, and merging with the darkness of its cage.

Naruto sighed, and opened his eyes. The explosions in the distance had stopped, but the sounds of combat were still evident in the pairs and occasional trio training nearby.

'_It's obvious that Shinigami are the more dangerous enemy… they have centuries to master their skills. But is it so wrong to wonder which one hits harder?_' He contemplated, before sighing again, and rising to his feet.

It just wouldn't do to let his own skills rust, would it?

---

Naruto was walking between the training sessions, checking in with his clones five hours after he'd begun his own exercises.

As he silently made his way to Kiba and Akamaru, though, he sighed. He shared a sad look with his clone, before he signaled the clone to bring the boy with them.

When they were far enough away, the blonde turned back, and the clone dispelled itself, with Kiba jogging up, Akamaru at his heels. "Yeah, Naruto? What's up?"

"Kiba… I don't want you coming with us." He said plainly.

"What!? Why?" Kiba responded in outrage.

The blonde simply pointed to the large dog behind him. "You and Akamaru can't fight properly without your clan techniques, and even then, it's a stretch…" He said, lowering his arm, only to bring it back up a second later to halt Kiba's protests. "I have more reasons than that, though…"

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Kiba scoffed.

"Hinata." Naruto replied, catching the boy's attention. "What happens if we all make it back, but none of us can use chakra? What if I don't come back? Who's going to protect her then? You know that _someone_ is going to come after us. That's why we need at least one or two people to stay behind. To set things up so we have a place to hide when we get back, if that's even possible… I'll leave it to you and Urahara to figure out after we're gone."

Kiba couldn't refute the points, even if he knew the other boy was just making an excuse for him to stay behind. "So then, that's it, huh?" He asked, Akamaru whining behind him and nuzzling his hand.

"You'll still need the time to practice up if you're going to help us mount a defense." The blonde jabbed playfully. "It's our job to _get_ Rukia. It's mostly your job to see that we _keep _her."

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, I get it… team's gotta' have a reserve."

Naruto nodded, placing his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Hey, enough feeling sorry for yourself, let's get back to training, yeah?"

The Inuzuka smirked as he brushed the hand away. "Is that a challenge?"

"You know I'd wipe the floor with you, mutt." The blonde scoffed, jumping to the side to avoid the slash of claws.

"Them's _fightin' _words, dobe!" Kiba yelled cheerfully, jumping after the other boy, Akamaru at his heels.

---

As the training concluded, everyone save Ichigo and Tessai, whom Naruto was told were busy with Ichigo's own training, were assembled in a semicircle around him and Urahara, with the odd cat Yoruichi between them.

Shortly before, Naruto's clones had all dispelled, giving him a minor headache, and also reason for him to be nodding like he was at the moment. "Yes… good. So far, the training is going well. It's a little too soon to tell who won't be able to go, but I've already made a few decisions regarding the matter." He said, glancing between all of them. "Regardless… we've all made excellent progress. Let's turn in for the night."

The shinobi all nodded, while Tatsuki, Orihime and Sado wondered how they could know it was night when it still looked like day within the cave.

"Tsuki-chan, I'd like to have a word with you…" Naruto added as everyone began to turn and walk away.

This earned him a few odd glances from the group, but the girl just nodded and walked over.

When he thought they were far enough from the others not to be overheard, he continued. "I don't want you coming with us."

Her reaction was instantaneous. "What? Why!?"

"I don't want you to get hurt." He replied.

"Well what about you? What about Orihime, and Ichigo, and everyone else?" She practically hissed.

The blonde sighed as he lowered his gaze. "I don't know if I can fight properly if I'm always worrying about you."

A sharp sound echoed through the cave. Naruto was wide-eyed as he turned his head back to her, a hand reflexively touching his now pink left cheek. "You don't trust me…" Tatsuki muttered, her eyes tearing up. "A relationship is based on _trust_. If you can't trust me to keep myself safe, then fine. But I refuse to be coddled like a child." She turned away from him, her fists clenched in repressed rage. "I'm going, and that's final." She added before stalking away.

Naruto watched sadly as she left, before finally noticing that everyone else seemed to be staring at him with mixed expressions. He sighed… he didn't want to deal with something like this right now.

He took one last glance around him, before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

---

Several hours had passed, over which Naruto had contemplated Tatsuki's words and reactions. He still couldn't quite comprehend everything, but he knew one thing with a certainty that made his chest tighten.

He hurt her.

Some boyfriend he was, making her cry like that…

And so, here he was, standing in front of her home, trying to gather his words for a proper apology.

He shook his head when he couldn't think of anything. He growled low in his throat. He hated it when he couldn't plan something out in advance…

His fist hit the door a little harder than he'd intended, but it left no damage, so he repeated the action, with a little less force, another three times.

The door opened a moment later, revealing the woman he usually dealt with at the Arisawa residence. Either she was a housewife, or he just had an uncanny knack for showing up when she happened to be home. "Oh, Arashi-kun… what brings you by today?" She asked with the same warm tone as always, though her eyes belied a soft enmity towards him.

Naruto lowered his head, and bent his waist in a bow. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'd like to speak with Tatsuki-chan." He couldn't see it, but he knew her eyes had narrowed at his statement. "I said something earlier that I didn't know she would take offense to, and I came here to apologize."

Her glare softened, and she let out a tired sigh. "She's been in her room since she came home. I can hear her crying from the hall. It's not like her. She's usually such a strong girl…" Naruto rose from his bow just in time to see the thoughtful expression she wore. "You make her stronger, but you also make her weak. That's the way it is in a real relationship. You hold her up, and carry each other through life's hardships… but one hurtful word from you is worse than a thousand from anyone else. Do you understand?"

Naruto was staring at the woman, his eyes somewhat wide, and his mouth partially agape. It took him all of an instant to compose himself, but he knew she'd still seen his reaction. "How did… I mean, how are you so intuitive?"

She shrugged with a smile. "It comes with being a mother. I'm sure Tatsuki will be the same when you two decide to give me some grandchildren."

The blonde couldn't help the flood of red across his cheeks as he processed the older woman's words. He was broken from his indignant reverie when he heard her giggle. "I'm sorry, but since you're Tatsuki-chan's first boyfriend, I haven't had a chance to play the embarrassing mother before, and I couldn't help it." She stopped when the boy in front of her let out a low rumble that could be perceived as a groan. "Oh stop it, you need to talk to Tatsuki-chan, yes?"

He nodded, and followed her into the house.

---

Tatsuki was not having a good day.

The training was fine, almost fun in fact, but then Naruto said that he wanted her to stay behind. She'd been so hurt by it, that she didn't even know why it hurt so much. At first, she thought that it was because he was looking down on her as a weak link in the group. She'd be among the first to admit she wasn't the strongest of them. She'd seen Anko slaughter Naruto clones, and Temari decimate a rock formation with a swing of her fan. Even the timid Hyuuga girl seemed to be stronger than her. But still… she refused to be considered the weakest, even if she couldn't think of a single person they'd trained with that she was undoubtedly superior to.

Then she'd thought that Naruto considered Rukia more important to him than she was… but the conversation she'd had with Orihime had made her question this.

"_We both know that you're strong enough to come with us." _She'd said. _"That means that he must have some other reason for not wanting you to come with us… he loves you, and doesn't want to even chance you not making it back."_

Tatsuki had felt like a real bitch after that… it'd been practically the same thing Naruto had said. Naruto was her boyfriend. He had every right to try and protect her. But, even as she realized all this, and had added onto herself the anguish at having struck Naruto simply for trying to protect her like a good boyfriend, there was a nagging pain in her chest that wouldn't stop. It'd taken her a little while to figure it out, but when she did, it only made more tears flow down her cheeks.

She wanted to stay with him. Even if it meant going into danger, she didn't want to leave his side. In the short time she'd known him, he'd become a part of her life that she didn't think she could live without. She'd laughed a little when she thought about it… she was just some love-struck brat that didn't want to stay home like a good little girl. She didn't know what she was getting into… she wasn't a soldier like Naruto or the other ninja… she was just a high school student. Other than what she'd learned from Naruto, and her martial arts, she really was just a kid…

Just then, there was a knock outside her room. "Tatsuki-chan… you have a visitor."

She swiftly went to work cleaning herself up before answering. "Thanks mom… who is it?"

The door opened to show Naruto thanking her mother, and stepping inside, before closing the door behind him. They both stood in silence for a moment before Naruto began to look around, idly scratching the back of his neck with one hand. "Wow… I've never been alone with a girl in her room before…"

It was such an obscenely offhanded comment, she couldn't help but laugh. Naruto looked on, wondering if he'd said something wrong, but she just kept on chuckling.

In truth, Tatsuki needed a good laugh to brighten up her spirit, but her mood was dampened when she heard Naruto mutter something. "Naruto…?"

"I said I'm sorry…" He repeated. "I had no idea that it'd hurt you so much to be left behind. If you want… then you can come." His face turned stern. "But you're staying out of the fighting, you hear me?"

She chuckled again. How could he be such a genius, and so damnably dense at the same time? "Come here." She said, patting her bed right next to her.

Naruto complied, and they sat in silence for a moment before he turned to her. "Tatsuki, I…"

He never finished what he was saying, as the girl beside him bodily tackled him down onto her bed, thrusting her tongue into his open mouth for good measure. Once she'd relented her passionate kiss, he stared up into her puffy, reddened eyes as she smiled down at him. "You're an idiot." She stated bluntly, before snuggling into his chest. "But you're _my_ idiot."

And so they stayed in amicable silence, holding each other until Tatsuki drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

About an hour later, Tatsuki's mother came in to check on them, and smiled at the sight. "I thought you knew I was mostly _joking_ about those grandbabies…"

Naruto could only muster a half-hearted glare at the woman. "Would you mind helping me here? I'd rather not wake her up…"

The woman nodded cheerfully, and slowly rolled the girl over onto her back.

"Thanks…" He muttered. "If you'd please remind her that we have plans tomorrow when she gets up, she'll know what you mean."

She nodded, and the boy silently left to get some sleep of his own.

---

Naruto sighed as they began training the following morning. He'd woken up in the middle of the night again, due to the recurring dream about his mother. In his childhood, he'd often had that dream, but the face was always blank or blurry, wreathed in bright red hair. Now that he had a face to go with the dream, it seemed to haunt him relentlessly.

Of course, once he got back to sleep, the dream usually didn't bother him. Last night in fact, he'd had another dream, this one centering on Tatsuki, who was beckoning to him from her bed, while wearing only the contents of a large bowl of ramen.

…It was a _nice_ dream, if a bit odd…

He forced the tinge of pink from his cheeks long enough to register that his dream-girl was late.

Everyone else had already arrived, and taken a clone or two. Ichigo was still in his hole along with Tessai, and Urahara was… wherever he dissapears to.

He was thinking more on the subject when he heard his name called.

"Naruto! Hey, look who I found!" It was definitely Tatsuki's voice.

However, her calls were soon drowned out by a pair of bellowing, identical cries of "YOSHA!"

…It was going to be another long day.

* * *

Alright, next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long to finish, so go ahead and look forward to it if you must. XD

PS, a 'lark' is indeed a type of bird, but it's also a word meaning 'good-natured prank'.

I don't like writing for Tatsuki's parents, her mother in particular as the more important of them at the moment, because I know that as soon as I finalize her personality and everything, she'll be revealed in the manga to be either completely different, or dead…

Ugh, just thinking about that makes me all… bleh.

Because you KNOW Tatsuki is going to be important later on. She'd been hanging out with Ichigo longer than anyone else. I mean, Tatsuki is the one who _introduced_ Ichigo to Orihime! And it's Orihime that gets the powers? Oh no… Tatsuki's probably got some OTHER super-powerful ability rivaling Orihime's that Kubo's just waiting to bring up. I can feel it.

Just so people know, I'm still looking for help with Japanese translations… Zanpakuto names and the like. I've been getting help from DarkHeroOrion, but additional input would be appreciated.

Also, I've heard from DarkHeroOrion about these little things called 'challenges' …admittedly, I had no idea what that had to do with fanfiction until he explained it. Anyway, I've been trying to pass on some old fic ideas, so I didn't feel bad about not writing them myself. If you'd like, you can take this as a challenge, to write one of my unwritten fics.

I still plan to finish the ones I've started posting already, but those are just the ones I've finished the first chapter of, and only account for about a quarter of my fics. So far, only one has been 'adopted', and I have yet to see a first chapter of it finished… so I don't know what to do with that, or if I'm even going about this the right way. Suggestions on this would also be greatly appreciated.


	11. There's Always Time for Love

Someone compared Naruto's Zanpakuto spirit to the Cheshire Cat… I must say, I like that comparison. XD

Another asked how this could be Naru/Harem if he's only with one girl right now. Well… isn't that how Harems usually start out? With _one_ _girl_? Don't worry, there _will_ be more than one girl, _eventually_. I'm just trying to keep this as realistic as I can. I mean, you go out with one girl, then start screwing another, girl number one isn't just going to say "Oh, yeah, that's fine, honey. Let me join in sometime!"

It just doesn't happen.

…well, it might, but girl number one is probably just going to kill you in your sleep.

…or with poison.

…*cough*

_Anyway_, it's been too long since I updated, and I'm sorry about that, but I've been really focused on WoW recently, and replaying FFX. (I haven't touched the game since the travesty of my best friend accidentally overwriting the file where I'd halfway maxed out my preferred team) So, without further ado, new chapter time…

* * *

Naruto's palm struck his forehead. How could he have overlooked Gai and Lee? True, a photographic memory only meant that one could recall any information they'd previously seen or experienced with nearly indescribable clarity, but this required the person to be _trying _to recall said information.

A photographic memory _does_ _not_ a genius make…

But still… how could he have missed those two? Was it even _possible_? …was he really as dense as everyone said?

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to berate himself… he needed to figure out what was going on, so he could conclude the proper next course of action. He nodded to himself. That sounded sufficiently intelligent to offset his thoughts on his own cranial density.

Turning to Tatsuki as she ran up, he gave her a curious look.

She returned it in kind. "What? They came to drag me out for training, just like every morning, and I told them I was training here, now."

Naruto nodded, creating a clone to dispel, informing the other clones that he wanted them to round everyone up. When the newly arrived pair, clad in their matching green jumpsuits, made their way over, the blonde could hear them talking between each other.

"Ahh, such an impressive training area!" the larger exclaimed.

"Yes, Gai-sensei! It must have truly been a monumental accomplishment to have constructed such a place!"

The bewhiskered blonde couldn't help but shake his head at their antics, somewhat glad that Tessai wasn't here to compound the issue with his prideful joy at their declarations.

"What are you two _doing _here?" He asked as he sidled past Tatsuki.

Gai leveled a _look_ at the blonde… he wasn't sure what it was; slightly narrowed eyes, mouth stretched into a thin line, forehead suspiciously lacking crease marks… it was almost like the older man was trying to dissect him with his eyes, but it was gone before Naruto could even tilt his head in confusion.

"We are here to help." Gai responded. "We've heard of your plight from young Tatsuki… about how Rukia was taken, to be charged with a most unyouthful sentence…"

"The friend of a friend is our friend as well! We shall not let harm come to her!" Lee added, setting himself into the 'nice guy pose'… which didn't look half bad with him in a jumpsuit.

Naruto chuckled. "Well, we _do_ need some help with Taijutsu…" He said as the others gathered up around him. "Well, pick a sparring partner, and you…" He pointed at a random, unpaired clone. "Fill them in on the full situation, in case Tatsuki missed something."

"What're you going to do, Yoko?" Tatsuki asked.

Naruto turned back to her with a smirk. "I'm going to go find Urahara."

---

It wasn't very difficult to find Urahara… or it wouldn't've been for a Jounin with experience in tracking… But, luckily for Naruto, he was just… well… _lucky._

He was searching the back rooms when he came across what appeared to be a broom closet… he had no idea why, but Urahara seemed to him like the kind of guy who'd actually stick himself _in _a closet… of course, there was a ladder in the back of the room, leading up to an attic room, where the man was tinkering with… _something._

It looked like a box, covered in intricate seals too small for him to make out at a distance. He was doing something with the contents of the box, but closed the lid before Naruto had finished climbing into the room.

"Two more shinobi showed up… I was wondering a few things… like how much of a help they'd be." The smaller blonde said.

Urahara let out a stifled laugh. "You think someone could walk into _my_ shop without _me_ knowing? Wow, I feel a little insulted…" He turned back to Naruto, showing that he'd been smiling the whole time. "But, regardless, let's go meet them, shall we?"

---

The two blondes made their way to the group, Naruto outlining what he knew of the duo's capabilities and eccentricities.

"Hmm…" Urahara nodded as they came upon the scene of Gai and Anko sparring while the others watched; Lee dutifully taking notes on the battle without ever taking his eyes from his sensei… a practiced feat, to be sure.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked, nonplussed.

Gai turned his head to meet the blonde, not noticing Anko's wicked grin at his divided attention, but deftly catching her swift kick at his temple nonetheless.

"We are sparring, Naruto-kun!" The great green beast pronounced.

"I can see that…" The irate boy answered. "But why are you doing that instead of training?"

"Ahh, but it is the _first step_ in training!" Guy announced enthusiastically, dropping Anko's foot and thrusting the previously occupied hand into the air. "For first one must _see_ Taijutsu!..." His stance shifted into an over-stylized battle pose. "Then one must _FEEL_ Taijutsu…" He growled out through his grin. "And then finally, one must _BECOME_ Taijutsu!" He yelled as he thrust both arms into the air in what Naruto and the rest of the audience could only assume was a victory pose.

"Yosha!" Lee and Orihime cried together.

'_Not another one…' _Naruto inwardly grumbled, idly wondering how the girl would look wearing the tight green spandex… which led him to wondering what the _other _girls would look like wearing it, followed by what,… everyone else would look like in one of those suits.

He'd never admit it aloud, but Tatsuki might actually be able to pull off the look…

Shaking his head to clear himself of such thoughts, he turned a stern eye on the teacher. "Yes, I won't debate that Taijutsu is irreplaceably important to this mission, but the priority is to retain what little Ninjutsu ability we can, let alone Genjutsu…"

Someone like Kurenai, he could honestly see mastering several seal-less Genjutsu, but he couldn't imagine anyone here as the kind to do such a thing. Gai and Anko, as Jounin, most likely knew their fair share of Genjutsu, but Anko was a Ninjutsu specialist, while Gai focused on Taijutsu. Hinata was a possibility, but from what he knew of the Hyuuga, their family frowned upon learning anything that couldn't best a Hyuuga… their unnerving bias against anything that isn't Jyuuken aside.

Naruto shook his head. Hinata was invaluable. Even though her combat skills were slightly behind those of others, she had some skill in the healing arts. More so than anyone else they had at present. Thus, this was their focus during her training.

Gai nodded. "Yes, I do see your point… We can continue our Taijutsu training later." The man said, lifting his right arm in a one-handed seal, causing twenty more green-clad men to phase into existence. "And now, our Ninjutsu training shall begin!"

The blonde boy blinked. "Kage Bunshin?"

"Why yes, Naruto-kun! I may be a Taijutsu specialist, but my knowledge of Ninjutsu is quite extensive." He said as the Bunshin paired themselves off with a non-Bunshin counterpart, standing beside them patiently. "The only man in the village who knows more Ninjutsu than I do is my eternal rival Kakashi!"

Naruto quietly contemplated this information for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah… so, you take over the Ninjutsu training…" He turned slightly, tilted his head downward, crossed his arms, and didn't move.

After a moment, Tatsuki took a step forward. "Naruto… are you okay?"

He blinked, before glancing up at her and giving a small, forced smile. "What? Of course I'm fine. Just thinking. Now that Gai is taking over training, I need to rethink my plans for the next few days…" His eyes slowly traveled over the curious looks the others were giving him. "…Though I suppose I could've waited for a better time to do so." He turned away again, before shaking his head and giving the girl a nod. "Sorry, I guess I've just never had so much on my mind, before… excuse me."

And with that, he stepped away, leaving the group to wonder what was on his mind. This didn't last long, as the original Gai began waving people off, to begin training.

The green beast nodded to himself, before turning around, only to be met by an odd man covering the lower half of his face with a fan. "Oho~… so, you're going along on their little trip?"

The fan closed with a snap, and the blonde man's face rose just enough for Gai to see the impassive, almost dark look on it. "I have a lot riding on them making it back in as few pieces as possible." He said in a tone that was far too calm for the subject matter. His eyes closed, and an almost serene look came over his features. "I just wanted to let you know how grateful I was." He added, before turning to follow after the other blonde.

"Who was that man, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked, having stayed behind for more Taijutsu training.

"I can only speculate, Lee-kun." He replied, placing his hand on the young man's shoulder. "But, you must always remember, that every stranger you meet is either a friend you've yet to acquaint yourself with, or an enemy you must be wary of." He could see the confusion in his student's eyes, and glanced back to where the man had went, only to see he'd vanished. "Men like that… it is difficult to discern where they stand, friend or foe, with such a brief meeting. Do you understand?"

Lee nodded. "But, Gai-sensei, if he is a friend of Naruto-kun… then is he not also our friend as well?"

The elder twin turned back to his student with a fond gaze. "Yes, Lee-kun. That is how it should be…" The boy smiled in response at first. "But… 'The friend of my friend is not always _my_ friend' just as 'The enemy of my enemy, is sometimes my enemy as well'… you understand, yes?"

Lee gave a tentative nod at his sensei's odd words, and the man struck a fighting stance in response. With a smile, Lee took up a matching stance.

---

Naruto sat on the edge of a large boulder, his elbow perched on his knee while his palm propped up his chin, his right arm sitting lazily on his opposite leg. Sensing the approach of the other blonde, he posed a query. "Why the hell do they call it a 'thinking pose' if it doesn't actually _help_ you think?"

"It depends on what you're thinking about." Urahara replied.

Naruto sighed, craning his neck back as his left arm fell, eyes closed, he seemed to be sorting his thoughts. "No matter how I look at it, they're not ready for this. _I'm_ not ready for this. There's so many little details that don't fit together… Why did they take Rukia in the first place? Were her crimes _really_ that bad? What about Gai and Lee, and their gates? Would that even _work_ where we're going, or would it be like the Byakugan all over again?" His head bobbed back down, and his eyes gazed darkly at the rough stone a meter below his dangling feet. "What if they all die?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see the older blonde's eyes shining kindly down into his own. "Sometimes a little faith goes a long way." He then proceeded to set himself down next to the other blonde. "And when that doesn't work, you smash your way through anyway." He said, jabbing a fist out into the air for emphasis.

The bewhiskered blonde scoffed, but couldn't help but smirk. He was right. Thinking about it, taking a pessimistic attitude towards every detail and scrutinizing the flaws in what little planning he could do wasn't going to change his mind… it certainly wouldn't change the minds of those who'd decided to go with him, and it _definitely_ wasn't going to get Rukia saved any faster…

"Heh… thanks…" Naruto muttered. "So, what can you tell me about Soul Society?" He could see the older man glance at him out of the corner of his eyes, but kept his gaze firmly forward. "Tactically… if we're going to make it back alive, we need to have some sort of battle plan."

Kisuke nodded, somewhat sadly. "Three hundred and twenty districts… Eighty in every direction, make up the Rukongai. This is where the normal souls live. At the center of this is Seireitei. This is the city where the Shinigami live. In the center is a big hill with a tower next to it, and around that are either the main base of each of the thirteen divisions, or at least a large secondary headquarters. Probably the latter; they all have a place in the area where their paperwork is sent to, and processed. This is your best bet for figuring out where Rukia is… unfortunately, this is where all of the more powerful Shinigami are going to congregate. …even _more_ unfortunately, it's either this, or you go looking through the other ninety percent of the city, _hoping_ to stumble across something…"

Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry. We're ninja. Infiltration and information gathering is kinda' _our thing_…"

"And those of you who _aren't_ ninja?" Urahara asked, somewhat condescendingly.

The younger blonde shrugged. "They can kick up a distraction for all I care, as long as Tatsuki doesn't get hurt…"

Kisuke turned to his young compatriot, leaning over until Naruto couldn't help but see the smile on his face. "You really _do_ like her, don't you?"

Naruto couldn't help the touch of pink that came to his cheeks. "Yes. I like her. What of it?" He ground out.

"Love is a dangerous thing on the battlefield." He said in a suddenly wistful, almost reminiscent tone. "If you're not careful, it'll get one of you killed." There was a short pause, before he heard an odd 'thwump' behind him. Turning, he saw it was Naruto, having thrown himself back to lay on the dusty rock.

"You think I don't know that?" Naruto grumbled. "I didn't want her to come along in the first place…"

Kisuke nodded, laying back on the rock as well. "But, if it doesn't, it'll bring you two closer together."

"This coming from experience?"

The older blonde shrugged. "I've always been a bit of a romantic…"

Naruto chuckled.

---

It was several hours later, when Naruto was going over some of the more complex chakra theorems that he knew with Urahara, trying to decipher what he should attempt to train in, while his clones trained themselves, that Tatsuki came up from behind him.

"Yoko!" She called, getting his attention. He was sitting on his rock, opposite Kisuke, who was also sitting. Before he could get up and respond, however, Naruto was already being dragged away by the girl, while Urahara waved comically.

"What're you…" Naruto began after he'd righted himself.

"We're going on a date." She said simply, yet with a firm tone that broached no argument.

The blonde was perplexed. "A date?"

"A date." She confirmed.

"What brought this on?" Naruto asked as he brushed the dust from his clothes.

Tatsuki smiled back at him, shaking her head slightly. "We've never had a date before."

---

_Orihime was busy sparring with her Gai clone, her six Rikka fluttering about above them, ready to aid her at a moment's notice should she command it, when Tatsuki arrived._

"_Oi! Orihime!" She called, jogging up._

"_Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime asked in confusion._

_The raven haired girl stopped smiling broadly. "I already popped my Gai, so I figured I'd check in on you."_

"_Well, I'm doing fine, Tatsuki-chan…" She started, but after she paused, and didn't continue, Gai's clone stepped forward._

"_Orihime-san is impressively talented in the martial arts!" He started, "And her powers have much potential, as well…"_

_Even though it was barely noticeable, Gai was a trained ninja, and Tatsuki was her best friend. Both saw her slightly shrink in on herself. More than just timidity, it was almost a reactive response… "It's really not that great…"_

"_If you truly believe this…" The Gai said, "Then it truly will be so. In all arts, if one believes themselves inferior, then they inevitably _become_ inferior. There is no exception to this."_

_They could both see the orange-haired girl shrink further into herself._

"_You didn't have to say it like that…" Tatsuki grumbled. "Come on Orihime, we'll go get something to cheer you up… it's almost time for lunch, anyway."_

_Gai's clone nodded and Tatsuki met his eyes. She knew he was right, but she didn't want to admit it at the moment, especially in front of Orihime. Ushering the other girl away, she couldn't help but look off in the direction she knew Naruto to have gone earlier, wondering if he would've thought the same as she did._

_Once they were out of Urahara's shop, it only took Tatsuki a moment to decide where to go. There was a sweets stand not too far away, on the edge of the shopping district. To her dismay, the trek was made in silence, but the way Orihime seemed to light up when asked what she wanted almost made up for it._

_They unanimously decided that ice cream would be the best cure for their woes, and instantly set forward with their orders. Tatsuki decided to go with a standard chocolate, while Orihime thought strawberry with caramel topping was best. The raven-haired girl couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's unique tastes._

_After sitting in amicable silence for a moment, Inoue was the first to speak. "Hey, you should bring Naruto-kun here..."_

_Her raven-haired compatriot nearly choked on her ice cream. With a quick swallow and a shudder as her body registered that it was half-melted ice cream going down her throat, she just as quickly spat out, "What do you mean by that!?"_

_Orihime's large eyes turned toward her friend, blinking owlishly as she idly sucked on her spoon. The image itself was almost too cute for even Tatsuki, who narrowed her eyes in response. "You mean, you've never been somewhere like this, just the two of you?"_

_It was Tatsuki's turn to mimic a nocturnal bird. "What? Well... no..."_

_The orange-haired girl sighed and swirled her ice cream about in its dish. "Isn't that what couples do?"_

_The young tomboy was dumbfounded. Sure, she and Naruto spent time together, but, was there more to it than that? They talked, but wasn't there more to say? They kissed, but... An image suddenly pervaded her mind, of herself and the blonde, bodies entwined with only her bed sheets shielding them from the open air, reveling in each other's ecstasy..._

_She shook her head to clear her mind, her cheeks flushed a brighter red than they'd ever been as she glared at her friend for setting the train of thought running rampant through her mind. She couldn't help but think Orihime was smiling a little too brightly to only be happy about the ice cream she seemed focused on now._

_Tatsuki let out a groan. "FINE! I'll drag him out on a date later today!"_

_"Good for you, Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime cheered, throwing her arms up happily, and smiling brightly. If her friend hadn't been so enveloped by her thoughts at the moment, she might've noticed the hint of sadness in her friend's smile._

_'I'll drag him off as soon as we get back, I should swing by the house to pick up a little money first, and then after dinner, we can go home and--' She shook her head again, futilely trying to clear her blush, yet thankful her friend was focused on finishing her treat once more. 'Dammit, I'm too young to be a pervert!'_

---

Naruto laughed sheepishly as Tatsuki led him swiftly along the sidewalk by the hand, nearly losing his balance several times despite his shinobi training. The girl's laughter was true enough, though. She was having the time of her young life... It was just her, and him. Nothing else mattered. And as long as she was happy, he was willing to indulge in her emotion... to the best of his ability, anyway.

She stopped abruptly, leaving him doing his best not to topple her over when they collided. She braced herself against her outstretched right leg when he'd made contact, rendering his efforts needless. "Okay! We're here!" She cried out.

He glanced up at the small restaurant. It looked like a fairly simple establishment... the building itself was two-story, with a rectangular face, and dark auburn siding that looked to the blonde like aged lacquer work. Like this one, the others in the area seemed to have flat rooftops, though those on either side of it seemed to be stonework and a bit shorter than the restaurant; one a clearly foreign eatery, and the other a loan office.

Tatsuki smiled at him before heading through a more modern-looking glass door with a metal frame. He briefly glanced at the large window to the left of it, which sported the word 'Takeyama' in black hiragana that would almost look painted on if not for its semi-transparency... After giving it a moment's thought, he decided it was most likely some form of ink used to stain the words onto the glass.

After pushing the door open, he saw Tatsuki talking animatedly with a girl a few years older than her with long brown hair, tied up into a bun that let a stream of hair out the back of it, reaching her mid-back. She wore a dark red yukata that might've denounced her as a customer if not for the pad of order sheets tucked into her sash.

Personally, he thought it was a bit out of season for such garb, but it _was_ abnormally warm in the establishment...

"Naruto, I want you to meet Aimi." Tatsuki said once she saw him enter. "Her family runs this place."

The older girl smiled at him. "So, you must be the boyfriend I've been hearing about..."

Tatsuki's cheeks tinged pink as she turned to her friend, snapping out her name questioningly.

Aimi giggled. "Well, your parents were in yesterday, and it just sort of... came up."

Naruto stepped forward with a slight bow. "Takeyama Aimi, I assume?"

The girl nodded. "Well, why don't you two have a seat anywhere, and I'll go get you some water... you need menus?" She asked, directing the latter part to Tatsuki.

"Nah, we're good." The younger girl answered, sitting down next to the window.

Naruto glanced around; it was a quaint place, to be sure... four tables with four chairs, along with four stools set at a bar in the back, two of which were occupied by what the blonde assumed to be another couple whom the young waitress engaged in conversation as she slipped behind the bar. Taking their orders, he assumed.

The tomboy immediately spoke up when he boyfriend took the seat opposite hers. "We're lucky we beat the dinner rush... this place is tiny, but it's one of my favorites... been so ever since my family started bringing me here."

"I see..." The blonde stated. "You know them well?"

Tatsuki nodded. "This place has been in their family for a while. Aimi, her parents, and her grandmother all live up on the second floor when they're not working. Her uncle and his wife set up another shop like this on the other side of town, so that takes a bit of the overflow away during rush hours, since it's bigger. Aimi just graduated, so she'll be going off to a culinary trade school soon... that'll be sad, but it's more for her to find a husband to set up another shop with than to actually learn anything; she's a pretty good cook already."

Naruto couldn't help but smile. "You know a lot about them..." He said, tugging at his collar. "Any idea why it's so warm, though?"

"The grandmother has bad joints. It's easier for her to work in the kitchen and get up the stairs if it's warmer. They try to keep it from getting terribly hot, though. Drives away customers." She answered. When the blonde chuckled, she glowered a bit. "What?"

"I didn't think you were such a chatterbox..." He replied with a smile.

"Hey, that's only because you're not doing any talking!" The tomboy admonished as her friend returned with their water. "Aimi, help me out here!"

The brunette let out a chuckle. "She's right, you know. It's rude to leave a girl talking to herself... now, what was it you wanted to order?"

Tatsuki gave the girl a blank look before it shifted into realization. "Oh! Right..." Sometimes it was so easy to forget she was the waitress... "We'll have a big order of Takoyaki to start, then a couple orders of Yakitori."

The older girl gave off an unladylike snort. "And for your boyfriend?"

"Hey!" She snapped. "That's for _both_ of us! I've outgrown that phase where I could eat my own weight in dumplings, already..."

"-'Her own weight in dumplings'?" Naruto asked in a jovial tone.

A giggle came from the brunette. "Yup. She could really do it back when she was yay tall, too." She said, holding her hand at waist level. An exaggeration, they all knew, but it didn't make the pink leave Tatsuki's cheeks any faster.

"Just go get our food already!" The raven-haired girl snapped, chugging half her water after the older girl had nodded and left, smiling broadly.

"And I bet you'd never gain a pound..." Naruto muttered offhandedly. "I was the same way with ramen."

"Maybe I should've ordered that, then?" His girlfriend teased.

He rolled his eyes in response. "And ruin our fabulous meal of squid-balls and chicken bits? Never."

"Hey, what's wrong with those!?" She growled.

"Nothing, as far as I know. I've never tried them before." He answered. Tatsuki wasn't sure what to make of this... where was he _raised_, anyway!?

...oh yeah... some other world...

This curbed the surprise and curiosity on her features somewhat, but still left enough for the blonde to feel some need to defend himself. "Hey, my _other_ spent his whole life sucking down ramen, okay? I spent what little time I had out in comparison eating little else but vegetables and red meats to try and fix my own malnutrition."

"Heh... it kinda' figures... '_Naruto_'..." She snickered. He rolled his eyes and tried to ignore it. "Hey, sorry... I'm just a little surprised. It's pretty hard to go a whole life without trying those around here, that's all."

He nodded. "Ramen's actually pretty good, but it's horrible to eat too much of the stuff."

Tatsuki shrugged. "Ehh, it's not bad." She conceded.

A silence fell between them as their topic of conversation ran out. After giving it a little thought, she leaned forward slightly. "So... what's it like? Y'know... the whole 'other you' thing?"

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. "Well, I'd describe it as similar to Kage Bunshin, but that's pointless since you've never used the technique... Basically, if I wanted to keep inside my mind, something else needed to be in control of my body. No way in hell I was handing the reins over to the Kyuubi... so I decided to make another 'me'. The only problem with this was the mental effort required. The more of myself I put into it, the more it took out of me... not _literally_... I was still my own, whole mind... but I had to actively place pieces together. After a while, I began to see most of those memories as 'him' while the rest was 'me'... true, I withheld quite a few of the darker memories he'd given me, but I had no intention of leaving it unbalanced enough to break down." He paused again to think for a while, taking a long breath as he did. "I suppose it all boils down to creating an idiot form of myself with so many holes in his memory that he'd fail to process some information correctly without some part of me he was lacking."

He stopped again. "And then?" She asked, watching him closely. She didn't want to miss anything... she didn't know quite when it happened, but her hand was laced with his.

The blonde shrugged. "And then, impossible as it sounds... I must've forgotten..." His eyes darted around for an instant. "Or... something... I don't really know why I couldn't make him come back after my stay with Jiraiya. He was the one who coaxed me out. Maybe... I made too many memories of my own?" He shook his head. "I can remember the veritable eons the Kyuubi and I spent with our petty contests, though..."

"Contests?" She asked, confused.

"Shougi, mostly. I still have no idea how anything without thumbs could have such proficiency with a board game..." He let out a morbid chuckle. "I used to plan my moves for hours before I moved a piece... I still barely won any of the games." His eyes darkened for a bit, his breathing slowed, and his hand tensed slightly around hers. "Ten years... I spent holed up in my own mind... Then I finally get shoved out into my own life, and I spend half the time being a complete asshole..."

She tightened her grip in turn. "Then I guess I'm lucky I get the other half of your time, huh?" She said with a smile, bringing him out of his reverie. His eyes met hers; wide, blue orbs with the faintest spark of brilliant life shining out. His mouth hung open slightly, twitching almost unnoticeably, as if trying to form words... Then he blinked, his mouth closed, and he smiled.

She smiled back.

Aimi almost felt bad to break up such a heart-felt moment with her arrival. She could practically _feel_ the love in their eyes. '_I hope I can meet a man that makes me feel that way someday..._' she thought as she set the boat of takoyaki in front of them, piled high with the dumplings. Normally, one does not _pile_ takoyaki, _buuut_... "Granny's finest. When I told her they were for you, she just heaped them on." She said with a giggle. "Extra's on the house, she says. Mom's busy on your yakitori, now." Another small chuckle. "Her and granny stuck dad filling out the other couple's bigger order."

Tatsuki stifled a snicker of her own at that, and even Naruto smiled a bit. He could easily see why she liked it here.

"Hey, is Tatsuki already finishing off all our octopus stock?" A tall teenage boy with short, spiky light brown hair bleached blonde at the tips said. Naruto couldn't help but notice his eyes were only a shade lighter than an Uchiha's, which was then only a few darker than Aimi's deep hazel. He looked somewhere between Tatsuki and Aimi's ages.

"Hey! No making fun of me... I haven't even eaten that many of them since before you were working here!" The tomboy raged.

"Yeah, yeah... I'd best get suited up, though... my shift starts in twenty." He gave Aimi a once-over. "You know, the only reason they let you get away with wearing that is because you're related to them..."

The older girl smiled sweetly. "Exactly. And you're the part-timer, Aki. So go get your apron already."

The boy rolled his eyes overdramatically and trudged back behind the counter and through the sliding door on the other side of it.

Tatsuki groaned. "Why'd I have to pick one of the nights when _he's_ working the dinner shift?"

"Hey, that reminds me!" Aimi said, brightening the room with her cheery tone. "I'm heading off to trade school in a couple months... so we'll need a few more part-timers to pick up my work load if you're interested."

The tomboy looked even more dejected. "Waitressing isn't exactly what I want to do for a living..." She mumbled. "Especially if I've got to work with Aki..."

Aimi's eyes took on a predatory glint as she smirked down at the younger girl. "Aww, that's too bad, he used to have such a crush on you, too... better go tell him you're off limits now." She smiled again, and the gleam in her eyes was gone. "I'll make sure he doesn't bug you for the rest of the night. Better dig in before those takoyaki get cold..." She added, before sauntering back into the kitchens herself.

Tatsuki immediately snatched up her chopsticks and popped a dumpling in her mouth. "I _know_ he's got a crush on me, that's why he seems so _creepy_..." she mumbled through her bite.

"Oh? Do I have a rival for fair maiden's hand?" Her blonde counterpart cooed sarcastically as he broke his own chopsticks apart.

"Fuck you, Yoko." She grumbled, swiping another dumpling.

"If you insist..." He sighed, causing her cheeks to flush red, and her octopus-filled morsel to fall from her chopsticks and bounce on the table. _Her hands gripping his hair, her voice moaning his name under her breath as his-..._

Naruto was dumbfounded as his girlfriend chugged the entirety of _his_ water, before stuffing three more takoyaki, including the one she'd dropped, into her mouth. "Are you okay?"

She chewed the dumplings hastily, before swallowing them and nodding her head. "Yeah, but... just..." Then she shook it. "No more innuendo tonight, okay?"

His cheeks tinged pink once he realized what must've come into her mind when he'd replied as he did, but he forced the thoughts away. ...he seemed to be doing that rather frequently, of late. Regardless, he nodded, before picking up one of the fried dough balls with his chop sticks, sniffing it for a moment, and popping it into his mouth. "Not bad..." He muttered to himself.

They sat in a tense silence as they whittled away at the pile of dumplings.

---

"What're they doing?" He asked silently from his place knelt on the other side of the counter.

"They're _eating._ I tend to think that's what people _do _when someone sets _food_ in front of them." his cohort whispered from her place knelt beside him, peeking out from behind the bar.

"It's a nervous silence isn't it!? Some boyfriend he is..." Aki grumbled as he too inched his head up and into view.

"Hey, I saw _love_ in their eyes! You can't fake that..." Aimi snapped at him as quietly as she could.

Both were pointedly ignoring the odd looks they were getting from the couple seated at the bar they were spying from.

"Unless you just _saw wrong_... shit, this quiet is starting to _damage my calm_. I'm going to go break it." He muttered, starting to rise to his feet until an iron grip closed on his shoulder.

"You will do _no such thing!_" Aimi hissed before loosening her grip and continuing in a less hostile tone. "You promised not to mess up their date, and their next order is up, anyway. _I'll_ go break the silence."

---

Naruto was debating whether or not to simply _let_ Tatsuki take the last four Takoyaki, when Aimi appeared at her side, two plates each with three skewers full of grilled chicken meat set before them. "Everything alright? Oh... you're out of water... would you like something else to drink?"

The blonde shook his head, and Tatsuki was still staring up in shock at how the older girl snuck up on her.

"More water it is, then..."

Silence descended once more as she left, with the only break in it being Naruto asking if Tatsuki wanted any more takoyaki, upon which they decided to split them evenly.

When Aimi returned, it was with two full glasses of water. "So, Naruto-san... what kind of career are you planning on going into?"

Naruto was effectively blindsided; reacting in the only fashion available to him. "Huh?"

"After you get done in high school... you _are_ in high school, right...? What are you going to do?" She asked, almost condescendingly.

He blinked, and pondered for a moment. "I honestly have no idea."

"Well, how are you going to pay for more dates with Tatsuki-chan if you don't have a future?"

"Actually..." The tomboy interjected. "_I'm _paying tonight..."

Aimi narrowed her eyes dangerously. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was a boy who took advantage of a girl's feelings. Her one and only boyfriend had seemed nice enough, until she figured out that he only wanted her to get free meals out of her family. That sort of thing tends to tarnish one's view of the opposite gender.

"...Of course, I dragged Naruto-kun here before he could grab his wallet, so it's my fault." She deliberately left out the fact that she wasn't sure if Naruto even _had_ a wallet, and if he did, if there was any money in it.

"I actually haven't stayed in one place long enough to nail down a career for myself..." The blonde stated. "Though I do believe I've got another couple of years left to figure that out... Tsuki-chan, what are you planning to do when you finish with school?"

Hearing Tatsuki called by a pet name, Aimi couldn't help but smile, if only a little... maybe they were okay, after all, she figured. Nodding to herself, she left the two to their conversation, mindful to keep herself within earshot of it.

"Heh, didn't you pay any attention when I _won_ that tournament? I'm going to be a professional martial artist!" She proclaimed, at which her boyfriend nodded. "But, y'know, I wasn't always sure that was what I wanted to do."

"Oh?" He quirked an eyebrow.

She nodded. "A while back, I mean, I met Ichigo at a martial arts for kids thing... and we became friends after that. After a while, I started to get to know his family, too. So, when their dad decided he was going to teach his girls to help him at their clinic. I got dragged into it, too."

Naruto couldn't help but blink and tilt his head.

"Didn't think me for the nurse-in-training type, did ya'? But yeah... I could barely ever get into it, and when I did, I usually screwed up. That's when I really decided that, I mean, _damn_, I'm good at _breaking_ people, not _fixing_ them!" She said with a laugh. "I mean, sure, I can wrap a bandage, or tie a tourniquet, but other than that..." She shook her head, picking up one of her skewers. "Not so much."

The blonde had already started into his, nodding in apparent satisfaction as he ate.

"My _other_ always wanted to be a ninja... to be the best." Naruto said after a few bites. "Me... I never gave it any thought."

Tatsuki scoffed and smirked.

The rest of their meal was spent in amicable silence.

---

After paying for their meal, and bidding farewell to Aimi, the couple headed out just before the dinner rush hit.

The walk home was peaceful, spent simply enjoying each other's company as they continued on, hands laced together.

By the time they'd made it to Tatsuki's home, it was already getting dark out. Tatsuki slowed as they neared her door, turning to face Naruto.

'_Now, just ask him if he'd like to come inside for a little while, and then you can show him your house, and your room, and your breasts, and-_' Tatsuki blushed again, shaking her head slightly. "Good night, Naruto-kun."

"Good night, Tatsuki-chan." He mirrored.

Glancing down, she slowly closed the gap between them, until their lips met. She held him tight, and he embraced her protectively. Several minutes later, they parted. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said, slipping away until only their outstretched arms, with still-laced fingers connected them. "I love you."

He smiled. A warm, bright smile. "I love you, too."

Their hands parted, and she slipped inside the house.

After a good sigh, Naruto turned and walked away...

Tatsuki was still leaning back against the closed door, her heart racing as temperamental thoughts pervaded her mind. Grumbling softly to herself, she quietly slinked into her room to relieve a little bit of the tension she built up during the day.

* * *

_REFERENCES!_ Oh my holy _FUCK_ I stuck so many references in this thing!!! Anyway, I'm sorry this took so long, but my laptop broke down. Luckily, I had all of my stuff backed up, and I was simply without something to write _ON_ for a while. I've seen too many good authors complain about losing data to not back mine up. (A simple way to do this is to upload the incomplete chapter onto the site, but NOT POST IT, and simply keep it there until you write more in it, then delete it and upload the updated incomplete chapter (Unless you simply do all of your writing in the edit section... which isn't _too_ bad of an idea, as long as you remember to copy-paste it into a word processor and spell check it, before you post it). It'll back up your stuff for a good sixty days.)

I did my best to write a good date, having never actually been on one, myself. (A date, I've had. A good one? Not so much)

As to Aimi asking Naruto if he's in High School- It actually is in no way mandatory in Japan. At around sixteen, they get out of Junior High School, and are free to drop out of school altogether and get a job. But since about 95% of students in Japan choose to go to High School, this leaves you undereducated by comparison. In truth, I can't even figure out if the Bleach characters _are_ in their last year of Junior High, or their first year of High school, since they start at different grades in Japan. (As I said, most fifteen-year-olds (like the Bleach cast) are still in Junior High in Japan, supporting my theory that they're Junior High students)

I was debating turning Aimi and Aki into a Team Rocket parody. ...for all of however long I was rolling around on the floor laughing from having thought of it. It's not going to happen. Sadly, they probably won't be recurring characters. (According to my translator (which is probably wrong anyway, mind you) Aki means '(to) Sparkle/Shine', Aimi (two words) means 'love' + 'listen/hear' (natural born eavesdropper, she is) and Takeyama means something like 'Highest peak of a mountain range' or something... I came up with this whole big thing about how they used to be a samurai family, and then decided not to use it)

And, I realize I'm being a tad out of character with Tatsuki, as she _is _quite the pervert in the manga and anime... I'm fairly certain she tried to convince Orihime to rape Ichigo in chapter four. ...naughty girl.

((Everything under this in the Afterword, was written _BEFORE_ the laptop crash, mind you. And all of the Foreword, as well))

I've come to a few conclusions I don't rather like about my writing. (The most prominent being the frequency at which I forget the words I want to use, and need to compromise and re-write the sentence in order to continue on. (It happened while I was writing the first line of this AN, in fact) This seems to happen every other sentence, and I hate it.) My writing style is bland and unimaginative. Probably one of the key problems in my motivation to write stems from my own belief that my writing isn't worth reading when compared to some of the better works out there… (I cite _Shivakashi's_ Medicinal Lullaby and _Kylewin's_ Time and Again and Here and Now as examples; primarily due to the fact that these are the only two of my favorites (other than some by authors that might prefer to be less famous than they are) that seem to update at all lately)

I'm not descriptive enough, I don't write emotion well at all, and I'm just downright repetitive… I can work on these problems as much as I like, but I still won't be as good a writer as I want to be…

Plus, it's just fucking _HARD_ to describe every little detail of a scene with like twenty people in it! GAH! (I was writing the scene where Urahara first meets Gai and Lee when I wrote this part of the AN) I'll work on being more descriptive in scenes with two people, and work my way up… I mean, DAMN! How can people write like THREE FULL PAGES where NOTHING happens, and STILL make it interesting!? Fuck, I want to know how to do that, too! *grumbles*

Another problem I have is spending all the time I FEEL like writing, reading Bleach to figure out what to write EVENTUALLY instead of writing what I can NOW… *is going to work on that*

Also, if anyone knows approximately how long it was between when the gang gets back to Karakura and when Rukia shows back up in the manga, that would be greatly appreciated. (I haven't read that part in the manga, and I can only assume it's a LOT different from the anime, where she came back to help fight an enemy that doesn't exist in the manga)

I also feel that Ichigo didn't get enough focus in my previous chapters. He's the main character of the other series in this crossover; he needs some goddamned spotlight, too.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay. I've tried. I really have. I just can't find the spark to write anymore. Maybe I'll pick it up again later, like when college isn't eating up all of my writing time anyway, but for now...

Consider this fic discontinued.

I know, I promised it'd get done, but hey... my GPA comes first.


End file.
